An early goal by Cal State Northridge (6-5-1, 3-1-0) inside of seven minutes and a second in the 65th minute downed Cal Poly men’s soccer (5-5-2, 2-2-0), as the Mustangs suffered their second Big West Conference loss at Alex G. Spanos Stadium Tuesday night.
Despite out-shooting the Matadors 17-12, Cal Poly was unable to find the back of the net on offense, while on defense, a pair of crucial mistakes proved to be the difference in the match. Northridge controlled possession early on and was rewarded at the 6:31 mark of the match as sophomore midfielder Thomas Ramos collected a strong through-ball from midfielder Rafael Garcia that found its way past the Mustangs’ backline.
Ramos scored his first goal of the season on a one-on-one chip-in over senior goalkeeper Patrick McLain.
Head coach Paul Holocher said the strike put his team on its heels, and the Mustangs could never recover from the early blow.
“I give credit to Northridge, they came out of the gates very strong,” Holocher said. “We were loose, we weren’t tight enough to them. We made that adjustment, (and) once we did, we took them out of their play. But when we did, we were already a goal down.”
Cal Poly’s first opportunity came in the 29th minute when sophomore midfielder George Malki sent a corner kick into traffic in front of the Matadors’ net, but after a half-chance by senior center back Patrick Sigler in front of goal, the ball harmlessly rolled through the penalty area. A few seconds later defender Cameron Walters collected a loose rebound and connected with the crossbar on a driven shot from inside the box.
Holocher said the opportunities to score presented themselves throughout the night, but the Mustangs were simply unable to capitalize.
“It’s frustrating sometimes, there were six or seven great opportunities … we hit the post three times,” Holocher said. “That has sort of been the tale of our season. We create opportunities, and we’ve been very unlucky.”
The Mustangs were held without a shot on goal until the 37th minute when midfielder Chris Gaschen’s attempt was turned away by goalkeeper Michael Abalos. A strong shot by senior left back Wes Feighner was also stopped by the Northridge keeper less than a minute later.
Following the halftime, the Mustangs began to control the game but were still unable to convert on several opportunities, namely a shot by senior forward Kyle Montgomery in the 47th minute that nicked the crossbar, and another by Montgomery that hit the post in the 62nd minute.
It was the second time this season that the Mustangs’ attack found iron three times in one game. The other came in a 3-1 loss to Denver.
The Matadors doubled their lead in the 66th minute when forward Brian Behrad outraced Sigler on the left flank for a one-on-one opportunity with McLain. The sophomore beat the keeper on the ground for a 2-0 lead.
Sigler said he takes full responsibility for the easy scoring opportunity granted to the Matadors’ forward.
“I misread the through-ball, and I thought I could get it around him, but they played a good ball around me. (Behrad) had a great burst of speed, and he got around me,” Sigler said. “It was on me for sure.”
The center back acknowledges that the team’s slow starts in conference matches have lead to the inconsistent results against Big West opponents.
“It’s the second game we’ve dropped in the Big West at home,” Sigler said. “It’s a lot of points we can’t get back. They jumped on us early. It’s been a struggle for us to come out very fast, and against a good team like (Cal State Northridge), it hurt us.”
McLain believes the team showed signs of life throughout the match, but it wasn’t enough to match the early momentum that the Matadors carried.
“We just didn’t do enough to win,” McLain said. “There were moments where we played well, but in the end, we didn’t get a goal. We didn’t have a result.”
The Mustangs and Matadors entered Tuesday’s game with identical conference records. The loss snaps Cal Poly’s eight-match unbeaten streak to the Matadors, the first in Holocher’s six-year tenure at the helm.
Cal Poly will look to put the loss behind them as they host rival UC Santa Barbara Friday night at 7 p.m. in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.