This wasn’t a UCSB game, but Cal Poly and their fans hope they can celebrate like they did during this game. By Owen Main

Blue and Green. They go together like oil and vinegar. Peanut butter and ketchup. Toothpaste and apple juice.

Bounce-back kids

Both UCSB and Cal Poly kicked-off Big West North action with losses on Wednesday. The Mustangs fell on a golden goal to UC Davis in overtime and the Gauchos, playing with 10 men for most of the match, were upended by Sacramento State 5-2.

So, which team will bounce-back?

Who scores first?

This match will feature great 1-1 and offense-defense matchups. Most notably, Cal Poly’s defense is much-improved from a season ago and UCSB has the Big West’s most potent attack.

Cal Poly’s attacking players can also be potent though, and they better find a way to score first. Cal Poly’s Justin Dhillon is the only player on the current roster to have notched a goal in the Blue-Green rivalry, and he has three of them. Dhillon, who was a top-40 national recruit coming out of high school, has been nursing a sore hamstring while still getting comfortable in new coach Steve Sampson’s system. Cal Poly will need him to provide attacking support and smart midfield decision-making.

For UCSB, Nick DePuy scored four goals just last season against the Mustangs. The UCSB junior has scored nearly a goal per game this year. He’s an imposing presence in the middle and alongside freshman Geoffrey Acheampong, DePuy has thrived once again this season.

Mustang seniors

Cal Poly’s senior class, which includes at least four players with professional aspirations, finds itself in a familiar position. In each of the past few years, Cal Poly has seen a decent start to Big West Conference play fizzle into weak finishes to the season. There are only five more games for the Mustangs to prove they belong in the tournament and to get right for a possible playoff run.

The play of the entire team will make a big difference. This senior class has been through a lot over the past 18 months and nothing would be sweeter for them than a home win against the team from Goleta.

Seriously, Nick DePuy has been amazing this season. By Owen Main

DePuy dominance

Did I mention that Nick DePuy is a dominator? The 6′ 4″ junior has 12 goals in 14 games so far this year after tallying 10 goals in 2014. DePuy gave an infamous “quiet” sign to the Cal Poly student section after scoring last year. He’d love nothing more than to do it again on Saturday night.

UCSB has a lot of players to watch who are dangerous and talented. Acheampong is among the best, but DePuy is the guy who always seems to be in the right place at the right time. Look out for number 6 in blue.

Youth and depth

UCSB has a good baseline of young players. Their starting lineup at Sac State included seven underclassmen and just one senior. Cal Poly starts four seniors and, while veterans of this game like DePuy won’t be phased at all, playing in front of 11,075 (or more) screaming fans can have an effect on players who are new to this game. Let me be clear, this goes for players on both sides.

Who wants to be a hero?

I had a high school football coach who used to ask this question for big games.

When it comes to games in SLO, this is the biggest one. Who’s going to be the hero?

To get a little counter-point to this mostly Cal Poly-centric site, I thought I’d invite Chris Pierce from the Gaucho Locos to the podcast. With the Cal Poly vs. UCSB Blue-Green rivalry heating up for this Saturday night, I talked to Chris about UCSB soccer, their great start to the season, and what the Blue-Green Rivalry holds for this year, when the Gauchos and Mustangs face-off on consecutive Saturdays.

Cal Poly freshman Justin Dhillon (11) celebrates after his first-half goal on Friday night. By Owen Main

The old saying goes, “a tie is like kissing your sister.” Cal Poly and UCSB learned how a Blue-Green tie truly feels, ending knotted at one goal apiece on Friday night in front of a sold-out 11,075 fans at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

In a hotly-contested match, Cal Poly scored early, gave up a goal at the end of the first half, and held-on for a 1-1 tie.

The game featured big plays by freshmen on both sides. Cal Poly’s Justin Dhillon began the scoring in the ninth minute. The tallest Mustang on the pitch, Dhillon headed a George Malki corner kick past UCSB goalkeeper Josh McNeely to give Cal Poly an early 1-0 lead. The Mustangs would give up the lead when UCSB’s Achille Campion found the back of the net in the final minute of the first half to tie the score. It would be the final goal of the match for either side.

“It was incredible,” said Dhillon of his first Blue-Green Rivalry experience as a player. “The fans here are awesome. I love representing my school and especially scoring a goal in front of them was unbelievable.”

With a relatively small team, Cal Poly’s corner kicks don’t usually get sent straight into the box, but Dhillon, the tallest field player on the pitch for the Mustangs, took advantage. The play that led to Dhillon’s goal was contrary to  how Cal Poly generally wants to play.

“We wanted to move the ball and the reality of tonight is that we had a very very difficult time communicating with the players on the field with all the noise,” said Holocher, who couldn’t give usual instructions on corner kicks. “So, for whatever reason, we played more direct than we normally do.

“It was a great goal. Really well-placed corner by George and [Dhillon] headed it down which is great. It’s good for him as a freshman to get a goal in this kind of environment.”

Dhillon’s ball squirted past the UCSB keeper and he and the team sprinted toward the Mustang Manglers section.

“George crossed the ball off a corner and I headed it home,” said Dhillon. “I just took off on a full sprint. I may have been tired but all that kind of slipped away, I was so excited, the adrenalyne was rushing through everything and it was unbelievable.”

With the tie, UCSB failed to win for the first time in 2013 Big West play. The Gauchos came into the game on a seven-game winning streak.

“They are number-one in our conference,” said Dhillon of the Gauchos.  “They are a very good team and I think we put up a good performance against them and ended up being the first [team] they’ve not won against in nine games.”

Two of Cal Poly’s seniors – George Malki and Chris Bernardi – team-up in their final home version of the Blue-Green Rivalry. By Owen Main

Holocher gave credit to UCSB after the game when asked how good they really are.

“I think they’re good enoguh to make a run in the NCAA playoffs for sure,” said Holocher. “I think they can beat anybody. They’ve got enough good, strong, big, physical individual players that make things difficult.”

For eight Cal Poly seniors, this was their final home edition of the Blue-Green Rivalry. It left some with a bitter taste.

“I’m definitely hurting inside, but I know my team and myself left everything on the field tonight and some things just didn’t go our way,” said Mackenzie Pridham, the Big West’s reigning Offensive Player of the Year and current goals leader.

Home fans and the Mustangs themselves were poised for a game-winning goal and a raucous student section having an opportunity to rush the field. Instead, fans had to settle for the tie.

“I kind of feel empty, in a way,” said Malki. “I’m glad we came out with a tie, but I’m disappointed that we didn’t come out with a win.”

Freshmen, though, may have played the two biggest roles in the game and cemented their roles in this matchup for years to come. Dhillon scored his second career goal and on the UCSB side, the freshman goalie, McNeely made his impact felt as well.

“Their goalkeeper had an unbelievable game,” said Pridham. “In my opinion he came up with four or five big-time game-changing saves. He had three or four on me, one on Ari, and a copule other big-time ones. He was on it.”

Cal Poly and UCSB play again on November 9th in the regular-season finale in Isla Vista. The game will be televised on Fox Sports West.

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

Photo by Owen Main

The real unofficial kick-off of the Blue-Green Rivalrly each year is the kickoff of the first men’s soccer game. in case you’ve been living under a rock, that’s tonight.

Tonight’s game was sold-out yesterday morning and the stands are over 50 percent filled by 6:20 for the 7:00 game — Alex G. Spanos Stadium rocking already with chants from the Mustang Manglers.

There were a lot of great stories in the Mustang News this week you’ll probably want to check out. In the mean time, let’s get ready to rumble!

[See image gallery at www.fansmanship.com]

With all due respect to the Cal Poly men’s basketball and football teams, the Cal Poly – UCSB soccer game on Saturday night was the most exciting, most electric sporting event maybe in the history of San Luis Obispo. Perhaps it matched sold-out Blue-Green rivalry games of 2008 and 2011, but the energy was palpable.  The stadium was full — 11,075 in attendance — and that wasn’t counting the fans who couldn’t get in.

George Malki (2) had his game-face on before Saturday’s Blue-Green Riavalry game. His second-half goal was his fourth of the season and the first game-winner of his career. Photo by Owen Main

Fans inside and outside of Alex G. Spanos Stadium scrambled for a better view. Those who arrived 15 minutes before game-time might not have been allowed in — the place was already full. Some of those left outside needed police officers to get them off of fences or trees as they were packed 2-3 deep in places outside of Alex G. Spanos Stadium where the field was visible.

Inside the stadium, the pregame Cal Poly! chant was deafening. The Mustang Manglers, Cal Poly’s soccer fan club, were standing, chanting, and dancing 75 minutes prior to the game.

When junior midfielder George Malki slotted a 77th minute shot into the Gaucho net, his fourth of the season and first game-winning goal of his career, Spanos Stadium exploded.

As time expired, Cal Poly fans stormed the field for the second time this year after a Blue-Green game, celebrating their first soccer sweep over UCSB since 1997. The loss ended the Gauchos’ season. UCSB will not play in the postseason this year after a run of 10 consecutive NCAA appearances.

Along with the Marauders, most of the eastern stands were filled with white shirts for the “white-out,” creating a wall of support behind the Mustangs’ bench.

The most important stat of the game for Cal Poly, though, was number of tortillas that littered the field at Alex G. Spanos Stadium: 0.

Cal Poly will head South for the Big West Tournament starting on Wednesday at Cal State Northridge vs. the Matadors. If they win and Cal State Fullerton knocks off UC Davis, the Mustangs could host the Big West Championship on Saturday.

The Big West’s divisions were unbalanced this season — UCSB was in last place in the North, but had the same number of points (13) as Cal State Fullerton, who finished second in the South and qualified for the Big West Tournament. Sacramento State, the third-place finisher in the North with 16 points, also did not make it into the Big West Tournament.

Photos by David Livingston

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Photos by Owen Main

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