The Cal Poly men’s soccer team (6-2-1, 1-0-0 Big West) won its Big West Conference opener for the seventh time in the last eight seasons, earning a 1-0 victory against CSUN (4-4-1, 0-1-0 Big West) Thursday night. The win also marked the Mustangs’ first victory at CSUN since Nov. 6, 2010.
Though CSUN had seven shots on goal, including an attempt by midfielder Steven Manios during the first 20 seconds of the game, the Matadors were unable to score against the Mustangs. Senior goalkeeper Wade Hamilton’s two big saves at the 30- and 62-minute marks helped solidify Cal Poly’s win. Hamilton now has four recorded shutouts for the 2015 season, bringing his total to 283 consecutive minutes without a goal scored from the opposing team.
Senior midfielder Chase Minter scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 12th minute of the game, bicycling in a cross pass from freshman midfielder George Grote and freshman defender Noah Chapleski. With his third goal of the 2015 season, Minter now matches senior midfielder Matt LaGrassa for the team lead. Grote now leads Cal Poly in assists, earning his third one of the season.
Overall, Cal Poly has led its opponents 483 minutes out of the 830 minutes that it has played so far this season.
The Mustangs, who have now won three straight matches for the first time this season, will travel to UC Irvine on Saturday to close its road trip with a game at 7 p.m.