In what was probably their best showing of the young season, Cal Poly’s men’s soccer team drew 11th-ranked San Diego State 0-0 on Saturday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on the Cal Poly campus.

Cal Poly’s defense was well-organized all game long, only allowing three shots to the visiting Aztecs. Goalkeeper Eric Kam recorded the first clean sheet of his career.

Despite the cast on his right wrist, Kenneth Higgins has provided a lot of energy and ball control for a Cal Poly team that is still looking to find its identity. By Owen Main

Shoot it!

Cal Poly out-shot SDSU 12-3. The Aztecs actually had the most possession, but Cal Poly created opportunities on counter-attacks and set pieces all night. Justin Dhillon played as a lone striker for most of the match while Kenneth Higgins, Kaba Alkebulan, and Adam Olsen provided some support. Especially intriguing is the play of lefties Jack O’Connor and Nick Carroll down the left side of the field. As head coach Steve Sampson put it early-on, the connection between those two will continue to be important. O’Connor’s hustle and ability to get forward and get service to the Mustangs’ tall, athletic forwards looks like a recipe Cal Poly is trying to master.

WOW crowd… kind of

Week of Welcome had not started at Cal Poly at game time, but lots of students were at this match. The attendance was listed at 1223, but I would say they were low by probably a thousand. Most of the new side of Alex G. Spanos Stadium was full for this one.

Another ranked opponent

Cal Poly will host another ranked opponent on Saturday, this time welcoming 7th-ranked UCLA into town. The Bruins have hosted the Mustangs in recent years and it will be interesting to see if Cal Poly can get a result from a ranked team. UCLA will be the fourth match (out of 7) Cal Poly has played against a top-11 opponent and the Mustangs hope that it nets them their first win against a Division I team this season.

If they were looking for inspiration, the WOW week crowd should be out in full force on Friday. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were eight to ten thousand fans on-hand for this one. A few years ago, against San Francisco, the Friday night WOW Week game netted over 6,000 fans — mostly WOWies. With UCLA’s name brand and some good weather, 8,000 could be in the cards.

Kickoff against UCLA is at 8:00 pm.

Photos by Owen Main. To view them all, click here. 

Ohio State, Duke, Syracuse, Kansas, Villanova, and Wichita State all have something in common and it isn’t something to be proud of. They all have been upset thus far in the NCAA tournament — sent home packing much earlier than many people expected. March Madness is known for its crazy shenanigans, but so far this tournament has been the craziest that I can remember. There are still many good teams left in the tournament, but what has transpired thus far is unexplainable.

Despite this picture being from 2009, not even Barack Obama could have predicted what would transpire thus far in the 2014 tournament, Pete Souza [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

#1 Florida vs #4 UCLA

#1 Virginia vs #Michigan State

#3 Iowa State vs #7 Connecticut

#1 Arizona vs #4 San Diego State

#2 Wisconsin vs #6 Baylor

#4 Louisville vs #8 Kentucky

#2 Michigan vs #11 Tennessee

This NCAA Tournament has given us some really good match-ups in the Sweet 16 and it’s looking like more of the same in the this weekend. Now here is my preview for what will transpire in the next few weeks:

Sweet 16:

#1 Florida vs #4 UCLA (Florida),

#10 Stanford vs #11 Dayton (Dayton)

#1 Virginia vs #4 Michigan State (Virginia)

#3 Iowa State vs #7 Connecticut (Connecticut)

#1 Arizona vs #4 San Diego State (Arizona)

#2 Wisconsin vs #6 Baylor (Wisconsin)

#4 Louisville vs #8 Kentucky (Kentucky)

#2 Michigan vs #11 Tennessee (Michigan)

Elite Eight:

#1 Florida vs #11 Dayton (Florida)

#1 Virginia vs #7 Connecticut (Virginia)

#1 Arizona vs #2 Wisconsin (Arizona)

#8 Kentucky vs #2 Michigan (Kentucky)

Final Four:

#1 Florida vs #1 Virginia (Virginia)

#1 Arizona vs #8 Kentucky (Arizona)

NCAA Championship Game:

#1 Virginia vs #1 Arizona

I’ve got Arizona holding up the trophy after its all said and done with the final score being 76-69.

What do you think? Did I even get close? Comment below.

The addition of SDSU should have fans in San Luis Obispo excited for a few reasons. San Diego State brings notoriety for basketball prowess — their Steve Fisher led basketball team made it to the Sweet 16 a year ago — but for Mustangs baseball fans, it also means seeing Tony Gwynn’s baseball team in San Luis Obispo every other year. Incidentally, Gwynn’s Aztecs will be in San Luis Obispo for a four-game series March 23-25, 2012.

In Monday’s news conference, Director of Athletics Don Oberhelman, a former member of the San Diego State athletic department had some interesting comments.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cj9Y8IvpJE

Video courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics

Head Basketball Coach Joe Callero also said he was excited at the prospect of having SDSU in the mix. He also discussed the success of Matt Titchenal. Best quote of the night – “He might have earned himself a starting spot.”

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPC_2gGi6HU

Video courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics

Road Trippin

While the men’s team has a few home games in December, Faith Mimnaugh’s women’s team is in the midst of a month-long road trip, playing six straight games on the road (including a road game at San Diego State December 21). The Mustang women next play at home on New Year’s Eve against rival UC Santa Barbara in their Big West opener.

SIDE NOTE – Who in the Big West scheduled a rivalry game on New Year’s Eve? And then “they” schedule the men’s UCSB home game on Tuesday the 2nd. The women don’t even get to play their UCSB game when there are students around and the men get to play on a Monday night the day after the New Year. Maybe with another year of success Cal Poly will get a less-raw deal in Big West scheduling.

The Cal Poly men next play tomorrow (Wednesday) night at home vs. NAIA Menlo College before a road trip to Fresno State and DePaul (Chicago).