The chances to beat the No. 17 team in the nation were there, but the Mustangs couldn’t pull off the upset.
The Cal Poly men’s soccer team doubled UCLA’s shot output, but in front of the 10th-largest regular season attendance figure in NCAA history, 8,717, the Mustangs opened the home portion of their 2010 schedule with a scoreless draw against the Bruins.
Overall, Cal Poly tallied a season-high 22 shot attempts, but the Mustangs were unable to push any of the team’s seven attempts on target past UCLA junior goalkeeper Brian Rowe. On the other side of the field, Mustang junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain kept his slate clean, stopping the Bruins four shots on goal.
“(The crowd) was unbelievable tonight and they showed that soccer is alive and well on the Central Coast. I’m proud and excited by the community that came out and the Cal Poly students who love and support their soccer,” head coach Paul Holocher said in a release. “The crowd did everything it could to help us win.”
In the first meeting between the two programs since Cal Poly (2-2-1) eliminated UCLA (3-1-1) during the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, Bruins freshman forward Reed Williams produced the first scoring opportunity of the match, but McLain stopped his 28th-minute effort. Cal Poly’s closest effort to a goal, of the opening half, came seven minutes later as Patrick Sigler headed a corner kick by senior midfielder Junior Burgos into Rowe’s gloves.
McLain again kept a UCLA opportunity out of the net in the 49th minute, thwarting a breakaway from Bruin freshman forward Victor Chavez. Cal Poly replied in the 62nd, as sophomore forward Chris Bernardi sliced a pass through the UCLA penalty area that senior forward David Zamora fired wide of the Bruin net. Another Sigler header – this time from a Wes Feighner throw-in – was muffled by Rowe in the 66th.
Cal Poly’s final highlight opportunity to win the match in regulation occurred during the 77th minute, as Burgos tossed a pass into Zamora, with a chance to put the Mustangs past the Bruins, however, Rowe stopped him at point-blank range.
“I thought we played well tonight; well enough to win, but that’s soccer. Sometimes you’re deprived of victory,” Holocher said. “We enjoyed a number of scoring opportunities from different players and not being predictable is what you want in attack. We just needed a little more quality in our finishing and composure in front of goal. It wasn’t from lack of effort, however.”
Cal Poly continues its three-match homestand versus Loyola Marymount on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m.