Mustang captain, Matt LaGrassa’s headed goal and subsequent celebration drove the crowd of nearly 7,000 fans at Alex G. Spanos Stadium into a frenzy. By Owen Main

Yes, Cal Poly men’s soccer is a somewhat improbable 5-1-1 this season.  Yes, they’ve scored more than one goal in five of their seven matches. Yes, they are unbeaten in six straight after beating San Francisco 2-1 on Friday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

The key stat of the night — 6,856. That’s how many fans — mostly WOWies — showed up to take-in the game. The WOWies came ready — faces painted, and impressed with chants and songs that they clearly had studied-up on.

On the pitch, San Francisco played as well as the Mustangs for much of the match. Cal Poly got on the board in the 12th minute when freshman, Joseph Bolous tapped a rebound into the corner, sending the WOWies — many of whom were still finding their seats — into a frenzy.

USF outplayed Cal Poly for most of the second half, but the Mustangs scored again. Captain Matt LaGrassa sailed high in the air to head Cal Poly’s second goal home in the 70th minute to put the Mustangs up by two.

The way the second half went, it would have been a miracle if San Francisco didn’t find the net at some point. The Dons finally emerged when Joshua Smith put one home in the 87th minute, but it was too little, too late for the Mustangs’ West Coast Conference opponents.

If Cal Poly freshmen wanted to know whether the soccer environment was all it was cracked-up to be, they found out on Friday. Interim Cal Poly coach Phil Ruskin has talked about wanting to get big crowds for games that aren’t UCSB games. He got one on Friday.

One British USF fan summed up the atmosphere quite nicely.

“Brilliant,” he said. “This is better than some of the professional games back home.”

The Mustangs next face former Big West rival Pacific on Sunday at 1pm at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Photos by Owen Main

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