Maggie Kaiserman
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With the match against UC Santa Barbara only hours away, nearly everyone on campus — from the men’s soccer head coach to the Manglers — is somehow preparing.
1. Office hours
This past Wednesday, men’s soccer head coach Paul Holocher was making flyers and preparing poster boards in his office to get the word out around campus for the upcoming game.
“The main thing is to make sure that our guys are prepared and well-rehearsed,” Holocher said.
2. Practice, practice, practice
Beside practice, players stretch, take ice baths and mentally prepare by trying to stay focused. The team also plans on fueling up before the game. What’s on the menu for senior forward Mackenzie Pridham?
“I will make some big breakfast burritos with eggs, hash browns, bell peppers and avocados, just lots of stuff; throw it all in there,” he said.
Pridham said his goals for the game are to work as hard as he can, put on a good show for the crowd, lead his team and hopefully come out victorious.
3. Crowd control
Event staff is also preparing for Friday’s game.
“Usually at the Santa Barbara game everyone goes wild; I am ready for it,” business administration junior Jake Wagner said. “I hope my boss puts me on the ledge because it is right next to the field — it’s the best seat in the house.”
4. Poly Reps
The Reps were selling green and gold T-shirts on Dexter Lawn and in the Julian A. McPhee University Union Plaza this past week.
“We are selling the ‘Buck the Gauchos’ T-shirts to promote school spirit at the game so the soccer team knows that we are behind them,” Poly Rep and business administration senior Lauren Grant said.
5. Student support
“My friend and I are going to make some helmets and paint our flag,” Mangler and aerospace engineering freshman Zachary Davis said. “We are going to ride it into battle into Spanos Stadium.”
Manglers President and biological sciences junior Kean Vaziry hoped to have a large portion of the stadium sectioned off for the Manglers because they’re the most enthusiastic and loyal fans, he said.
“We got RedBull to provide energy for us, help everyone get riled up beforehand,” he said.
6. Mustang News sports photographer
Theatre arts junior Ian Billings will be on the field and ready to capture the memorable moments.
“In soccer there is only one or two chances to get the shot that people want to see, you have to be able to nail it when that happens,” Billings said.
Mustang News editors will get photos almost immediately; an assistant will take Billing’s memory card and send photos right away.