Cal Poly men’s soccer (3-2-2) looks to improve upon its third place finish in the Big West last season in a big way. Its sights are set on the 2011 conference title.
Cal Poly finished the 2010 season with an overall record of 8-7-3, which included a first-round exit in the Big West Conference tournament. Eventual tournament champion UC Santa Barbara sent the Mustangs packing early with a 2-1 overtime victory at Harder Stadium.
Cal Poly returns six starters from the 2010 campaign including three of its six Big West selections. The Mustangs lost all-time leading scorer David Zamora up front to graduation, but return all four starters on the back line from a year ago: Patrick Sigler, Cameron Walters, Wes Feighner and Connor Drechsler. Goalkeeper Patrick McLain, an All-Big West Conference second team selection, also returns as his .835 save percentage from 2010 further solidifies Cal Poly’s stellar defensive line.
The Mustangs have a few fresh faces on offense in the form of St. Louis University transfer Benny Estes and UCLA transfer Dakota Collins.
Collins proved to be an immediate impact, scoring two goals thus far, including a game-winner against Villanova on Sept. 9.
Cal Poly opened the 2011 season with five straight home matches at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, a venue in which they are 27-6-8 since its inception in 2007. During the homestand, the Mustangs went 2-1-2 with their lone loss coming against Seattle.
Cal Poly earned its first victory of the season in the home-opener versus UNLV. Ian Clarke’s first collegiate goal in the 74th minute proved to be the game winner.
The Mustangs, while dominating possession and outshooting New Mexico 16-3, couldn’t find a way to beat goalkeeper Victor Rodriguez en route to a scoreless draw in their second match of the season.
Cal Poly’s eight match unbeaten streak at home was snapped when they welcomed Seattle to Alex G. Spanos Stadium for the first day game of the season.
Collins’ struck in the 86th minute leveled the score line at 1 and sent the match into overtime. But, Cal Poly failed to play until the final whistle as Seattle’s Travis Heim scored the game winner with seven seconds to play in double overtime.
The Mustangs rebounded nicely with a 1-0 decision against Big East opponent Villanova and a well-earned draw versus No. 12 West Virginia to close out the homestand.
Cal Poly then traveled to Ohio to compete in the Akron Tournament at FirstEnergy Stadium. In their first match away from home, the Mustangs notched another win against a Big East opponent.
Senior forward Kyle Montgomery and sophomore Mac Pridham provided the scoring that day to lead Cal Poly to a 2-1 victory against Syracuse.
In its most recent match, Cal Poly registered the second loss of the 2011 season by dropping a tough 1-0 decision to defending national champion and fourth-ranked Akron. In the 83rd minute, Akron’s Andre Yedlin was brought down inside the penalty area resulting in a penalty shot. The shot was buried and the Mustangs left FirstEnergy Stadium feeling robbed of what might have been a momentous upset.
Head coach Paul Holocher, in his sixth season at the helm, said his team deserved a better result than it got.
“(Against Akron), we were the more dangerous team,” Holocher said. “We didn’t get the result we wanted, but it shows that our team has a lot of character.”
“We felt like we got robbed (against Akron),” McLain said.
Holocher also said a common theme for the men’s soccer team this season has been the ability to generate shots, but its ability to put those shots into the back of the net has proved to be elusive.
“We’re collectively producing a lot of shots,” Holocher said. “We’ve outshot six of seven opponents … but we’ve had a problem finishing it out in front of goal.”
Indeed the Mustangs are getting the opportunities as evidenced by lopsided shots against totals versus New Mexico (16-3), West Virginia (20-5) and a host of other opponents.
“It will come, the shots have been coming,” Collins said. “They just need to start falling in. Once you’ve scored a few goals, you get confidence and (goals) just keep coming.”
While the offense has struggled at times, the defense has been near perfect.
Cal Poly has allowed a total of four goals in seven games, a tribute to the experience of the back line.
McLain has posted four shutouts thus far, the most of any Big West Conference goalkeeper. He was named last week’s Big West Defensive Player of the Week.
Holocher said defense is key to the team’s success.
Sigler, Walters, Feighner and Drechsler have started every match together dating back to the beginning of last season.
“They’re great players, they’ve really matured and they’re the leaders of our team,” Holocher said regarding the back four.
Cal Poly has one remaining non-conference match on the schedule before playing the remainder of the regular season against Big West opponents.
Notable matches include defending conference regular season champion UC Irvine (7-1), Cal State Fullerton (5-1-1) and rival UC Santa Barbara (4-1-1).
Holocher said the tough non-conference schedule that Cal Poly played, which featured two ranked teams and three Big East Conference opponents, should prove beneficial going into conference play.
“If we had the opportunity we would pick this level of competition again,” Holocher said. “You want to get battle-tested, you want to play in big games and get yourself ready for conference.”
Holocher isn’t the only person who sees the touch preseason matchups as exciting.
“We’re expecting a good result against Denver,” McLain said. “It’s a must-win as far as we’re concerned.”
The Mustangs aren’t looking too far ahead though as the team is focused on upcoming non-conference opponent Denver on Sunday Sept. 25 at 1 p.m.