Forward Elise Krieghoff scored twice in the women’s UC Santa Barbara game on Saturday, leading the Mustangs to a 2-1 win. The goals brought her season total to 20 goals.
Jacob Lauing
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Elise Krieghoff continues to steal the show.
The sophomore forward notched her 19th and 20th goals of the season, giving the Cal Poly women’s soccer team a 2-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Friday night.
Cal Poly (10-7, 6-1 Big West Conference) is now guaranteed, at minimum, a share of the regular-season conference title. The Mustangs currently sit atop the Big West standings.
After riding a six-game non-conference losing streak, Cal Poly has dropped only one match in October, falling to UC Irvine on Oct. 6.
As it’s been most of the season, Cal Poly’s offense was all Krieghoff on Friday.
The Clovis, Calif. native struck first in the 50th minute. With Sara Lancaster’s fifth assist of the year, Krieghoff sent a shot over UC Santa Barbara’s goalkeeper Beth Ritter, giving Cal Poly a 1-0 lead.
Krieghoff was back at it again three minutes later, capitalizing on an assist from Kendra Bonsall and putting the Mustangs up by two.
UC Santa Barbara would answer back in the 80th minute, as Allie Ariniello scored to avoid the shutout.
Krieghoff, who entered the week tied for the national lead in goals, owns 20 of Cal Poly’s 31 goals on the season. She has 16 more goals than the next Mustang, Megan Abutin.
Cal Poly hits the road this week to face UC Davis on Thursday. The Aggies (5-7-3, 2-2-1 Big West) rank eighth in the conference. UC Irvine, on the other hand, is close behind the Mustangs, with a 4-2 conference record and two games remaining.
In the case of a tie, UC Irvine’s victory over Cal Poly on Oct. 6 would grant the Anteaters the regular-season conference title.
The Big West Tournament begins with semifinals on Nov. 7 at Cal State Fullerton. An automatic NCAA tournament berth will be awarded to the victor of the Big West tournament finals on Nov. 10. The Mustangs, led by head coach Alex Crozier, have gone to the NCAA tournament six times since the program entered the Division I ranks in 1994.