Stephan Teodosescu
steodosescu@mustangdaily.net
If there is one thing nearly every Cal Poly fan, player and attendee inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium had in common on Saturday night it was the familiar feeling of adrenaline, excitement and awe all rolled into one single emotion throughout the game — one generated by more than 11,000 screaming fans packed into the stadium for one of the Mustangs men’s soccer program’s most important matches in history. It gave nearly everyone goosebumps.
“I don’t know how it got through, but as soon as it went in, I just saw the stadium erupt and everyone got out of their seats,” junior midfielder George Malki said of his game-winning goal in the 77th-minute. “I couldn’t hear it got so loud. Honestly, I got goosebumps in my arm and my whole body.”
Malki’s moment was the only one that intervened on the constant drone of mass chants and “Cal Poly” anthems heard throughout the night, as his late strike effused a whopping celebration from the fans in attendance, much like the ones normally reserved for only the biggest European club matches.
After all, it was a win-or-go-home game for the Mustangs. A loss would have spelled elimination from postseason contention.
With Malki’s goal, though, Cal Poly defeated rival UC Santa Barbara 1-0 and secured a spot in the Big West Tournament, following a one-year hiatus from the conference playoffs. But most notably for the Mustangs supporters, Cal Poly swept the season series from the Gauchos for the first time since 1997. It also meant the Mustangs have won three of their past four games in the Blue-Green Rivalry.
The large crowds and unique collegiate soccer atmospheres have resulted from the recent success. In fact, the series has drawn 11 of the top 26 attendance figures in NCAA history, many of those being sellouts of Alex G. Spanos Stadium (capacity: 11,075).
And Saturday night’s match was the latest chapter in a storybook rivalry that has seen its share of tightly contested matches to go along with the fan support. The win marked the 11th time in the past 12 matches that a Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara contest ended in a tie or was decided by a single goal.
Each of Cal Poly’s home wins in the past three years featured overtime or late-game heroics and has sparked a mad dash of students rushing the field following the final whistle. The excitement has almost become commonplace.
But for Chris Eversley, a junior forward on the Cal Poly men’s basketball team, the experience is new.
“I got to storm the field,” he said. “I didn’t get to do it last year … I feel like I just scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl. I feel like I was George Malki. This is what Cal Poly is about.”
Eversley added that Saturday’s match had deeper-rooted implications for him, ones that extended beyond soccer. Ones that also gave him goosebumps.
“This is giving me all types of energy for TCU on Friday,” Eversley said.”This just gives me what I need for (the basketball season opener). I’m just really excited. I get goosebumps.”
But the rivalry wouldn’t have been complete without a UC Santa Barbara-based supporters section to add tension to the volatile nature of what has been dubbed the greatest college soccer rivalry in the country.
And the Gaucho Locos, UC Santa Barbara’s athletics fan club, made sure to show up in full force to help ignite the atmosphere on Saturday.
“It’s our last game of the season and obviously there’s an opportunity to stop (Cal Poly) from going to the playoffs,” UC Santa Barbara alumnus and Loco member Mike Lipka said during the game. “And in this rivalry that’s what it’s all about.”
Fortunately for the Mustangs, it was Malki who lit the fire under Alex G. Spanos Stadium and catalyzed a crowd eruption heard across San Luis Obispo. For him, it solidified his trust in the Mustangs fans’ ability to will his team to victory.
“We have the best fans in college soccer, there is no doubt in my mind,” Malki said.
But with the one of the program’s biggest wins in the rear view mirror, the Mustangs will have to regroup for Wednesday night’s Big West Tournament semifinal match at Cal State Northridge.
The Matadors (13-6-0, 7-3-0 Big West) enter the game as the Big West South Division champions and will host a Mustangs team that has one loss in its past seven games. A win by Cal Poly and by Cal State Fullerton over North Division champion UC Davis in the other semifinal matchup on Wednesday could result in a home game for the Mustangs in the Big West Conference Tournament championship game on Saturday.
“We’re going to enjoy this,” Malki said of their win against the Gauchos. “But we’re going to get back at it. We’re extremely pumped. I think we’ve got a little chip on our shoulder, and I think we’ll be ready.”
Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher said his team is ready for the challenge.
“We need to defend well,” Holocher said. “Northridge is the top attacking team in the conference. They’ve got a lot of threats up top. We want to control the ball in our possession as much as we can. It’s going to be a fantastic game. If you’re a soccer fan, you want to go watch this type of game because they’re two good teams that play a good way.”
The Matadors bring with them the conference’s most potent offense, as they finished the regular season tied for the top spot in the Big West with 37 goals on the year.
With that considered, the Mustangs will have their hands full again in another win-or-go-home affair, this time for a spot in the conference championship game.