Lauren RabainoThe Cal Poly women’s soccer team is gearing up for the 2007 Big West Conference by looking at past losses to apply what it knows it needs to work on.
Although the Mustangs dropped a non-conference match to No. 1 Santa Clara 4-0 Friday night at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, and fell to 1-7-1 overall this season, the team is not giving up and hopes to do well where it counts the most.
“I am really excited for the conference to start, despite our record,” goalkeeper Alli Tramel said. “When you actually look into the depths of the games, we’re not even looking at the scoreboard.”
Instead, the team is focusing on how to improve.
“We’re working on keeping better position of the ball and our attack, as well as finishing our chances at the goal,” head coach Alex Crozier said. “We have good team speed and we’re working on getting more speed.”
The team is hosting its first Big West Conference game of the season Oct. 5 against UC Riverside at 7 p.m. The Mustangs traveled through most of September and ended their non-conference schedule with the daunting task of matching with Santa Clara. The Mustangs went 1-4-1 over a three-week period that included trips to Hanover, N.H. for the Nike Hypertherm Tournament hosted by Dartmouth, San Diego and Utah.
“I expect us to do very well this season,” Crozier said. “The non-conference schedule was very difficult for us, but we’ve been improving week by week.”
Still, nothing would have warmed the Mustangs up like a win against Santa Clara, a team Cal Poly has met 16 times prior to Friday’s match. All-time, Cal Poly is 0-13-3 against one of the most prestigious women’s soccer squads in the nation.
The Broncos (7-0-1) sport wins over Arizona State (1-0), Arizona (1-0 OT), San Jose State (3-2), No. 21 Notre Dame (7-1), No. 14 Rutgers (2-1 OT) and Missouri (2-1). Their draw came against No. 7 Virginia, 0-0.
“They were as good as we thought they would be,” Crozier told the Mustang Daily earlier this week. “We’re ready for conference play.”
Last year, the Mustangs were 10-7-3 at the Big West Conference Tournament, but dropped the game to Cal State Fullerton. Cal Poly is hosting a conference match against Cal State Fullerton at 1 p.m. on Oct. 7.
The Titans’ midfielder Christina Murillo was named the Big West Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week Monday afternoon after the team won a pair of non-conference victories last weekend against San Jose State (1-0) and Fresno State (3-2).
On Oct. 12, UC Irvine will host the third conference game for Cal Poly, but the Mustangs will be back hosting a non-conference match against Cal State Bakersfield Oct. 14.
Currently, the Mustangs are focusing on the upcoming UC Riverside match.
“I think our record may look horrible, but we’re all really confident and looking forward to other game,” Tramel said.