A little like college baseball players who go away to play in summer leagues, college soccer players who are good enough often play for clubs during the offseason.

On Wednesday evening in Ventura, Justin Dhillon entered the game in the 79th minute of a tie US Open Cup third round match. Less than 30 seconds later, he had a game winning goal that will send his team, PSA Elite, into the fourth round to play the LA Galaxy at the StubHub Center.

Justin Dhillon will be an upperclassman on a talented Cal Poly soccer team next season. By Owen Main

Dhillon’s strike came off a long free kick that his teammate was able to settle and feed to him. After one quick touch, the winger from Tesoro high school popped a left footed shot into the back of the net. Dhillon, who will be a junior at Cal Poly next season, slotted the game-winner past incoming UCSB goalkeeper Justin Vom Steeg of the Ventura County Fusion for the game winner.

In the second round, Cal Poly midfielder Matt LaGrassa’s strike placed the Fusion on the winning side against the USL’s LA Galaxy II, a professional side that included former Mustang Ari Lassiter. On Wednesday, it was his teammate Dhillon who ended Ventura County’s US Open Cup run.

Also on the PSA Elite side that will play against the LA Galaxy is Cal Poly keeper Wade Hamilton. Hamilton made a few diving saves during the game to help keep PSA Elite in the match.

Along with returning players, freshman, and transfers, Cal Poly will have defensive midfielder Kody Wakasa back in the lineup. By Owen Main

After their 2-0 defeat of Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal Poly men’s soccer will continue their exhibition season with a match against Pac-12 champion Stanford on Saturday evening at 7:00pm at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Admission is free.

Under new head coach, Steve Sampson, Cal Poly is changing some things about the way they play. Sampson told all players that no positions were guaranteed going into the Spring season, and players seem to have taken it to heart.

The return of Ruben Duran and Kody Wakasa, both of whom redshirted last season, along with transfer Bjorn Sandberg bolsters the team’s depth immediately. Cal Poly only lost one player to graduation after last season.

Also back in the mix are Brett Foreman and Nick Carroll, both of whom missed significant time last year. Adding in the freshmen who will compete next season, it seems that depth — a weakness for the Mustangs a season ago — may be slowly turning into a strength.

Steve Sampson has high expectations for the Cal Poly program. While the outcome of a spring game or two won’t make a huge difference in the long run, players are fighting for Fall playing time right now, and I think it will be fascinating to watch this team’s transition over the next 12-18 months.

After the Stanford game, Cal Poly has a few additional games this spring. Head Coach Steve Sampson discusses it below.

Photos by Owen Main

Steve Sampson on the field at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Thursday afternoon. By Owen Main

I did something a little different this week. With the signing of former United States National Team head coach, Steve Sampson, at Cal Poly, I thought it appropriate to play the entirety of the press conference as well as my interviews with Matt LaGrassa and Kip Colvey.

Hope you enjoy.

Steve Palacios held-down the midfield for Cal Poly, playing a steady role as the team’s only senior this season. By Owen Main

Cal Poly men’s soccer was a goal away from winning their regular season finale and earning a birth into the Big West Conference Tournament. Instead, the season ended in heartbreak on Wednesday as UC Davis netted the golden goal, ending the Mustangs’ season.

The 2014 men’s soccer season began with tumult and ended with questions of what could have been.

What if?

For the Mustangs, this season is chalk-full of “what-ifs.”

What if head coach Paul Holocher hadn’t resigned just a few days before the start of training camp?

What if Koda Wakasa or Ruben Duran had been healthy?

What if center backs Brett Foreman and Nick Carroll had been available for so many important Big West North matchups?

What if they’d been able to maintain the two-goal lead they opened-up at rival UCSB?

Soccer is not always a fair game, though. What-ifs are replaced with what actually happened, and the Mustangs fell a little short. They are a young and talented group (Steve Palacios was the only senior on the team), but they just couldn’t overcome key injuries and inconsistency.

What’s next for the program?

This is a program in transition, but it’s also a program with seven players who would have been returning seniors next season (two were injured this year and will technically be juniors next season). If they have a new coach next season, it will be their third coach in as many years.

Like many Cal Poly fans, I’m interested to see what kind of recruiting happened this season, given that the Mustangs played this entire season with an “interim” coach. I don’t know how effective an interim coach can be with recruiting — and it may not matter too much for next year, given that the team only loses one senior, but the long-term ramifications of a coach leaving the way Paul Holocher did can be potentially devastating.

This year’s team came out of the blocks strong. They scored a ton of goals early-on and got fans’ hopes up for a successful conference season, as they have in year’s past. With Phil Ruskin at the helm, there was hope for some continuity and a strong conference run. But the team finished the year with a whimper — losing their final three matches and netting only four points in six Big West North matches.

Phil Ruskin showed promise this season as the team’s interim head coach. He deserves at least another season at the helm. By Owen Main

Will Ruskin be back?

When he was named interim coach just a few days before practice started this season, Phil Ruskin took on an enormous challenge. Early-on, it looked as though the team really responded to him. The Mustangs came out scoring goals and playing an offensive, possession-oriented style of soccer that has been their hallmark. They beat North Carolina State on the road, tied top-ranked UCLA, and started conference play by tying top-5 ranked UC Irvine.

Cal Poly even started Big West Conference play strong. The tie with Irvine was followed by victories at home against Cal State Fullerton and on the road against eventual South Division champion UC Riverside.

The win in Riverside was costly. Brett Foreman, Cal Poly’s most experienced central defender went down against the Highlanders and didn’t return all season. Freshman Nick Carroll was also not available for the next game — a loss at Cal State Fullerton — and the Mustangs struggled to put things together after that. With tons of depth in attacking positions, Cal Poly was paper-thin in central defense. Carroll missed six consecutive matches before returning for the final game.

In place of Carroll and Foreman, midfileders like Matt LaGrassa and Sean Dhillon filled in admirably. Defender Mamadou Kebe was probably a year away from being truly ready for the big-time. Trenton Matson, who I believe ended up playing some, might have been better-served to maintain his redshirt season. Jack O’Connor played all right at left back as well, but the point is that a lot of players who might not have been on the pitch as much saw a lot of time and several players spent significant time in unfamiliar positions over the past six matches.

During those six games (Big West North divisional play), Cal Poly managed just four points, perpetuating a trend of a Cal Poly men’s soccer season that starts with a ton of excitement and ends with disappointment.

What’s next for Ruskin and the program? Cal Poly will likely initiate a nationwide coaching search, though I don’t know that they’ll do a lot better than Ruskin. For what it’s worth, he has always been positive and never seemed to lack confidence. Despite injuries, his teams didn’t look tactically out-matched and his players this season showed a higher level of maturity on the field this year than in seasons past.

The Big West North is a tough, tough division, and this Cal Poly team just couldn’t overcome all their challenges. With only one senior on this season’s roster, it would be very interesting to watch a Cal Poly team at full-strength with Ruskin at the helm next season. For what it’s worth, Cal Poly (according to their roster) had seven key juniors on this team who are set to return next year, including LaGrassa, Chase Minter, Wade Hamilton, Kody Wakasa, Kip Colvey, and Ruben Duran. As a fan, I would probably prefer to give Ruskin at least one more season without the interim tag to both show what he could do with recruiting and to maintain some level of consistency for next year’s senior class, who has been through a ton.

Maybe people want the program to head in a different direction, but I think, for the sake of continuity and snapping up a young, dynamic coach, Cal Poly men’s soccer would be best served to keep Ruskin around next year.

Cal Poly fans didn’t have a lot to cheer about on Sunday. By Owen Main

On Sunday night, in front of a sellout crowd at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, UCSB scored twice in the first half and held-on with ten men for the last 19-plus minutes to defeat Cal Poly 2-0.

In front of 11,075 fans — mostly students — UCSB dominated the first 30 minutes of the game en route to the victory. Cal Poly, who was without at least three key defensive players, struggled to gain traction both literally (the field was still really wet from the weekend rain and football game) and figuratively (the Gauchos dominated possession early-on).

Still, there were a few opportunities in the second half that the Mustangs just couldn’t put into the back of the net. For the Cal Poly faithful, it was a frustrating end to the match, with the UCSB captain taunting the student section and the crowd filing out of the stadium with their heads down.

The emotion

This game is always full of emotion, but I felt like something was missing this time. Perhaps the senior class from last year — George Malki, Mackenzie Pridham, etc… — made a stronger connection with the fans. Last season, the stadium was full a full hour ahead of the match. This season, students were still filing in during the national anthem. Whatever the reason, it didn’t quite feel the same, despite the sellout.

The shushing

UCSB scored early in this match and gave the crowd the single finger shushing sign. For whatever reason, the crowd seemed to obey for most of the rest of the game.

Any other crowd might have taken the shushing as a reason to get louder, which is why the second UCSB goal was such a dagger. Sure, there were chants, there was a random cell phone light thing, and there were the typical taunts of the opposition’s goalie. But there wasn’t anything sustained or filled with passion, as there has been in previous years.

On a side note, who decided to make the UCSB match a 5:00 pm game on a Sunday afternoon? Whoever does must hate sports and America, but I digress. I guess my point is that I felt like something was missing. Was it just me?

The throwing

I don’t want to get into a huge discussion of tortillas. Tortilla throwing has become something UCSB soccer and, by proxy, the Big West Conference hangs its hat on. It’s a tradition unlike any other and the only time in a match where I’ve ever seen items being thrown onto the field of play allowed — or in this case, downright encouraged.

What I don’t understand is the outrage. One media member from Santa Barbara on the sideline found a piece of something that wasn’t a tortilla that had been thrown on the field.

“They threw this at our goalie,” he told me.

“Yeah, throwing things on the field is pretty lame I said.”

He agreed.

“Tortillas too, right?” I asked.

Whoa whoa whoa.

He tried to tell me tortillas were fine but throwing other things onto the field during the game wasn’t ok. So, here’s my point. Once things are allowed to be thrown onto the field — at the players on either team — during the game, it sets a dangerous precedent. It’s hard to split hairs at that point, especially when UCSB is playing an away game.

Whoever threw the metal thing (looked like maybe a lighter??) onto the field is an idiot who should have been ejected immediately. But so, too, should fans who throw ANYTHING at players while the game is going on — whether it’s a tortilla or not.

The three seconds

Earlier this season, I was picking the brain of a former Cal Poly soccer player about the anatomy of a penalty kick. He told me that after the referee blows his whistle, the penalty taker should always count to three before his run-up to take the kick. I’ve seen two Cal Poly men this season have PK’s saved against them and I don’t know if either has paused prior to the run-up.

Maybe it had nothing to do with it, but contrast it with a penalty kick from the same night in MLS. FC Dallas midfielder Michel is one of the best in the business at penalties. He takes FOREVER in this one (starting at about 1:45 of the video). The official even has to blow his whistle a second time to get him to start his run-up. Not surprisingly, he buries the shot in the back of the net.

The aftermath

Cal Poly is now in fourth place with a trip to rugged UC Davis in front of them. The game is on Wednesday afternoon at 2:00pm, and everything is on the line. To make the conference tournament, they’ll need to win and possibly hope for a UCSB win over Sacramento State. There are a number of scenarios, but winning is the key…

Photos by Owen Main

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Chase Minter put Cal Poly ahead in the first half and Sean Dhillon put them up for good as the Mustangs stole three points on the road at Sacramento State on Saturday afternoon.

Cal Poly played the game without its two starting central defenders. Brett Foreman and Nick Carroll. Already missing defensive player Kody Wakasa this season, interim head coach Phil Ruskin had to make some adjustments.

Cal Poly’s Kaba Alkebulan battles for an arial ball on Saturday afternoon in Sacramento. By Owen Main

Ruskin went to two of his most trusted guys — Sean Dhillon and captain Matt LaGrassa to fill on the back line. Dhillon had been playing a wing back position and LaGrassa has played all over the central midfield. While neither Dhillon nor LaGrassa are particularly big, LaGrassa is one of Cal Poly’s best players in the air. He proved it by getting to a number of crosses ahead of Hornet attackers throughout the match.

Sacramento State did have a few early chances, including one off the post that could have changed the complexion of the match. Instead, Cal Poly’s Minter came up with a goal before halftime that set the tone for the remainder of the match.

In the second half, Sac State tied the game on a 62nd minute Cody Hoster goal, but the Mustangs bounced back. In the 76th minute, a charging Sean Dhillon took a pass from Minter and put the Mustangs ahead. Cal Poly would get some help with an own goal in the 88th minute to secure the 3-1 road victory.

Sac State’s soccer facility — Kind of nice.

Sacramento State’s soccer facility was very spectator-friendly and, though small, pretty nice. The pitch, while a little muddy in some places, had grass that looked more like a golf fairway. The stands, while pretty small, are set under a row of overhanging trees, providing really nice afternoon shade for those fans watching the match.

The shade was a challenge for this photographer as it crept farther and farther onto the pitch, but for a facility I didn’t have much expectation for coming in, the Hornets have made themselves a nice little home away from their football stadium, which has an artificial surface.

Causeway Cup coming to Bonney Field

I was told by a local newspaper writer that Sac State is trying something new in their college soccer rivalry, playing their home “Causeway Cup” game at Bonney Field. Bonney Field is host to Sacramento Republic FC, the reigning USL Pro Champions. USL Pro is the third-tier league in the United States, and is a place MLS teams can assign players to get some game action.

I was told Republic FC sold-out all but one of their matches this season and if vying for an MLS team in the near future — with plans to further expand Bonney Field.

If Sac State and UC Davis could amp up their rivalry, the Big West North could continue to get more and more competitive. Let’s be honest, big rivalries and big college soccer crowds are nothing but fun.

Big West Division Openers

With the win on Saturday, Cal Poly remains in a first-place tie. In the other Big West North game, UC Davis scored a dramatic goal in the second overtime period to upend UCSB 1-0. The Mustangs and Aggies lead the division with 10 points each. UCSB and Sacramento State stay on 7 and 6 points respectively. UC Irvine beat Cal State Fullerton on Saturday and also have 10 points in conference.

Cal Poly hosts UC Davis on Wednesday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium (7:00 pm) and plays in Goleta on Saturday at 7:30 in a match that will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.

Photos by Owen Main

To view on an iPhone or iPad, click here. 

Cal Poly’s Kaba Alkebulan was a physical offensive target for much of Thursday’s match. By Owen Main

UC Irvine was the highest ranked opponent Cal Poly has ever hosted. Ranked second, the Anteaters came into Spanos Stadium on Thursday night and have to feel fortunate to escape with a point after Cal Poly dominated the first half and were a penalty kick save away from blowing the game wide-open.

Matching styles

Only knowing their record, I expected Irvine to be much more physical in this game. Instead, they also played a pretty attractive style of soccer that made the first half really enjoyable. Both teams showed really nice ball-control, poise, and solid passing and ball-movement.

I’m still convinced this will be the exception from Cal Poly opponents in conference play.

His friends call him The Captain

Cal Poly’s Matt LaGrassa opened the scoring late in the first half. In the 43rd minute, midfield captain found a Chase Minter cross and powered it off the crossbar, down off the Anteater goalie, and into the net. It was LaGrassa’s team-leading fifth goal of the season.

La Grassa was everywhere in this game. On at least three occasions, the midfielder tracked back to make goal-saving clearances in the box. He was also at the crux of Cal Poly’s possession in the midfield and one of the main reasons the Mustangs looked so great in the first half.

In the second half, Irvine shut-down the center of the pitch, squeezing LaGrassa and Steve Palacios and forcing Cal Poly out wide.

Missed opportunity

After controlling most of the first half, Cal Poly was put on their heels in the second half — played mostly in their defensive half. Irvine had multiple opportunities throughout the half. Cal Poly goalie Wade Hamilton stretched to make eight saves — including a few sprawling ones after halftime.

In the 53rd minute, Cal Poly had a chance to get a stranglehold on the game. John Chronopolis was fouled in the box and stepped-up to take a penalty kick against Irvine’s Michael Breslin. Chronopolis rushed his kick a little and Breslin guessed right, diving toward the right post. The shot was well-placed, but Breslin was there to stop and control the ball.

The impressive save by Breslin was his only save of the second half, but surely the biggest one of the game.

Momentum Shift

From there on, the Anteaters really squeezed Cal Poly’s possession game and made them a little one-dimensional. Irvine attacked Cal Poly defenders and midfielders with constant pressure after halftime, and in the 76th minute, all of Irvine’s possession and pressure finally paid-off. Marlo Ortiz did the honors, scoring his first goal of the season on a rocket into the upper-corner. Hamilton had no chance and the game was tied.

Cal Poly had some good opportunities late, but couldn’t find the back of the net. Sophomore Justin Dhillon continues to get shots from places that aren’t quite as dangerous as he’d like. Dhillon managed a team-high five shots (three on-goal), but didn’t find the back of the net. Like last weekend’s home game, this one was a sister-kisser.

The weekend’s not over

Cal Poly hosts Cal State Northridge on Sunday at about 3:00pm as part of an afternoon doubleheader with the women’s team (the women’s home conference opener is scheduled for noon at. The Matadors beat the Mustangs twice last season, including the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament. Sagi Lev-Ari might be the most dynamic striker in the conference and will test the Cal Poly defense.

Aaaand the pitch

The field looked in pretty solid shape last night. Some turf came up, but it seemed to be pretty true. After a football game Saturday and the women’s soccer game on Sunday afternoon, I’ll be interested to see what shape the field stays in for Sunday’s men’s game.

Photos by Owen Main

The game plan has been the same for a few years. For teams playing against Cal Poly’s possession-style game, there has been one consistent answer. Get physical. I’m not talking Olivia Newton-John physical.

I’m talking hard-nosed tackles, grabbing, pulling, bumping, and generally slowing the game down. See, the Mustangs want to keep the game flowing and the ball moving at all costs, but they better be prepared for what teams are about to throw at them.

Last season, Cal State Fullerton used the second conference game of the season to give blueprint of how to frustrate and beat the Mustangs. Cal Poly ended that game with ten men and ended the season only winning two of their final ten matches.

In this week’s press conference, I asked coach Phil Ruskin about the physical play of other teams against his.

In terms of technical ability, Ruskin isn’t wrong. Cal Poly does move the ball around and there aren’t a lot better passers and technical players like Cal Poly’s Chase Minter, Steve Palacios, and Matt LaGrassa. But, they’re not the biggest guys. Most of Cal Poly’s taller, more physical players like Kaba Alkebulan, Justin Dhillon, and freshman Adam Olsen are attackers.

Matt LaGrassa and the Mustangs midfielders will have to endure a lot during a tough conference schedule. By Owen Main

Just as Cal Poly has the potential to wear-down and frustrate other teams by controlling the ball, other teams also have the ability to play a physical, high-pressure style and maybe even get under Cal Poly’s skin.

UC Irvine comes into Thursday night’s Big West Conference opener with the number two RPI in the country as an unbeaten team. Ruskin feels Cal Poly can compete with them. They are certainly skilled enough, but whether they are strong enough or mentally tough enough remains to be seen.

At some point, one would think that Cal Poly soccer is due to take the next step for the program and legitimately compete for a conference title. Whether that year is this year, with less depth than they expected and an interim head coach remains to be seen. I guess I’ve seen stranger things.

But the main question for me is still about Cal Poly’s depth and ability to deal with physical play. Can a team like Cal Poly with 13-14 rotation players compete at this level? Can they handle physical conference weekends where they might get beat-up?

Thursday night, we’ll begin the journey to find out.

Mackenzie Pridham blasts the game-winning goal on Sunday afternoon vs. Yale. By Owen Main

The first Cal Poly soccer match I went to this year was a dud. The Mustangs looked listless, didn’t create many good chances, and lost to Gonzaga in overtime. It looked like it was happening all over again.

On Sunday, it looked nearly like a carbon copy of the Gonzaga match, except Yale took advantage of Cal Poly’s mistakes and went ahead 2-0 at halftime. While they had the run of play, they used a lot of less-effective long passes and were to crack the middle part of the final third of the field. A defensive mistake by Cal Poly and a timely counter fr

Connor Drechsler put Cal Poly within 2-1 early in the second half on a cross from Chris Bernardi. Bernardi, who comes off the bench for Holocher, has looked like the fastest, most effective Mustang with the best first touch in the two games I’ve been to this season. In short, he puts a lot of pressure on defenders. Dreschler has three career goals on only three career shots on goal.

During the final 20 minutes of the second half, Yale did everything they could to legally bleed the clock. As Cal Poly’s offense started to turn up the pressure, two Bulldogs went down with what seemed like leg cramps. They subbed players every few minutes. They took their time on free kicks.

But in the end, it wasn’t enough.

With less than 90 seconds left in the match, sophomore Matt LaGrassa fired a left-footed blast into the right side of the net to tie the match. Yale’s collective hands went to their heads. Mustangs players climbed briefly onto the barrier with the stands in front of the Mustang Manglers section.

In overtime, Cal Poly persevered. Mackenzie Pridham, who had played a very physical second half, finally found himself free and quickly buried the game-winner past Yale keeper Blake Brown in the 100th minute to cap the comeback.

Chase Minter celebrates with Matt LaGrassa (20) after LaGrassa’s game-tying goal. By Owen Main

The final 55 minutes of the match– the second half and overtime — were a dominant display by Cal Poly. As discussed in my soccer preview, if the Mustangs are going to have any chance at the Big West title, careless mistakes at the back line cannot happen. A team like UCSB, Davis, or Cal State Northridge will be nearly impossible to come back on from 2-0 down in a game like Sunday’s.

I always find Paul Holocher’s comments about style of play interesting. While Yale consistently played in the second half with 8 players behind the ball defensively, Cal Poly did their best to keep the field open, maintain possession, and use the whole pitch.

I would rather lose trying to play this way than win in another way. I think our fans appreciate how we get things done as much as the outcome,” said Holocher.

In other words, the team needs to get better at the style of play, particularly with turnovers deep in the defensive zone. Holocher’s team will play two games in Colorado next week before starting conference play.

Photos by Owen Main

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Pridham’s Goal – Video