The Cal Poly women’s soccer team scored three first-half goals to beat UC Riverside on Sunday and held onto sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference standings.
Colin Patterson
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The Cal Poly women’s soccer team celebrated its Senior Day with a 3-1 victory over UC Riverside. The event kicked off by presenting the class of eight seniors — Cristina Farrington, Braelyn Fetsch, Brittainy Gebo, Kacey Held, Amanda Turini, Haley Walker, Jordyn Zander and Andrea Zimkowski — who were welcomed by their family and friends.
“It was a bittersweet moment for all the seniors,” Walker, who had two assists, said. “It was our last game at home, but I’m glad we won.”
With the spotlight on the seniors, freshmen Megan Abutin and Kendra Bonsall put in goals in the 32nd and 33rd minutes, respectively, with assists from Walker. It marked the second week that both Abutin and Bonsall scored, as younger members of the team are stepping up and allowing the team to not solely rely on Big West Conference goals leader Elise Krieghoff.
“It’s awesome knowing that we have so much confidence in our offensive line,” Walker said. “We know that anybody that gets the ball can put it in.”
All three goals were put in during the first half and all within a 10-minute span. Krieghoff scored the third, her 18th of the season, on a cross from Abutin.
“Sometimes teams double up on Elise and we’re showing for her off the ball, so we’re getting chances as well,” Abutin said. “It’s helping to make our attack more offensive and dynamic.”
While the younger players scored for Cal Poly, the seniors received increased minutes late in the game.
“Getting those three goals in the first half and having all the seniors getting to play was really nice,” Abutin said. “And ending it with a win was really special.”
Opposed to last years’ 1-1 draw against UC Riverside, the Mustangs scored first and secured the lead. In every victory this season, Cal Poly has scored first and continued with that momentum throughout the rest of the game.
“It was a great way to finish our home stand for them,” head coach Alex Crozier said. “We actually got to end the game with all seven of the seniors that could play on the field. Everyone played well; Riverside is a good team, and we had a good string of three goals to put them away.”
The UC Riverside game was the second Cal Poly (9-7-0 overall, 5-1-0 Big West) hosted this weekend after their 1-0 win over Cal State Fullerton (6-5-4, 1-2-1) on Friday. Cal Poly will visit UC Santa Barbara this Friday at 7 p.m.
“We’re at Santa Barbara for the big Blue-Green rivalry, and anything can happen in those games,” Crozier said. “Fortunately, that’s our one game for the week, but we’re on the road, so we just need to focus on a few things.”