Stephan Teodosescu
steodosescu@mustangdaily.net
The Cal Poly men’s soccer team couldn’t make it two come-from-behind victories in as many weeks, as the Mustangs dropped their latest match, a 3-2 decision to Sacramento State inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Saturday night.
A goal by Hornets junior midfielder Gabe Silveira three minutes from time broke a 2-2 deadlock and sent Cal Poly (9-6-1, 4-3-1 Big West Conference) to its first defeat in its last five games.
“It’s disappointing,” seventh-year head coach Paul Holocher said. “We played well for the majority of the game and controlled the game. We probably had about 65 percent of the ball and in (Sacramento State’s) few attempts we didn’t defend well enough.”
Following last Friday night’s comeback against UC Santa Barbara, one that saw the Mustangs bridge a 1-0 deficit in the 89th minute and score a game-winning goal in extra time to win for the first time at Harder Stadium since 1998, Cal Poly couldn’t find any late-game heroics against the Hornets (8-6-2, 5-2-1 Big West) on Saturday.
With the loss, the Mustangs dropped to third place in the Big West Conference North Division standings, as they trail the Hornets by three points and UC Davis by two. UC Santa Barbara rounds out the standings three points behind the Mustangs headed into next weekend’s rivalry match. The top two teams in both the North and South Divisions qualify for the Nov. 7 and 10 Big West Tournament.
“(This loss) means that we have to win both remaining games for us to have any chance at all,” Holocher said. “We started this year by trying to develop a style of play, we’re doing that and it’s positive. But when we’re playing teams that counter against us it’s dangerous. We’ve got to defend that better.”
Sacramento State showed that counter attacking ability early in Saturday’s match by scoring a goal in the fifth minute on a ball that fell to forward Isaac Ikyurav’s feet inside the penalty area. He launched the opportunity past diving Mustangs goalkeeper Wade Hamilton to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
Cal Poly responded on junior midfielder Ronald Medrano Williams’ first career goal, as he headed home a deflection off midfielder Mike Hocker’s kick to knot the score at one in the 36th minute.
“It was incredible,” Williams said. “I’ve been waiting three years to score my first goal. It was awesome and I didn’t know what to do I was so excited.”
Coming out of the break, Sacramento State took the lead again in what proved to be a back-and-forth second half. Hornets forward Max Alvarez converted a penalty kick in the 49th minute after the Mustangs committed a hand ball inside the penalty area.
Once again, Cal Poly responded. This time it was junior forward Mackenzie Pridham, who slotted home his team-leading 10th goal of the season on a turn-around shot into the lower left corner of the net for the equalizer.
With the strike, Pridham became only the third player in program history to reach double-digit goals scored in a single season and the first since Clay Harty scored 10 in 1996. Harty holds the all-time Cal Poly record with 16 goals in one season.
Despite Pridham’s historic tally, the final word went to Sacramento State when Silveira streaked down the left flank and sent a shot past Hamilton on the near post to give the Hornets a late win on the road.
“We battled through until the 90th minute,” Hamilton said. “We tried everything we could. That last goal was just probably a lack of concentration and (Silveira) dribbled across the 18-yard box and he got a clean strike through. I couldn’t blame a single person though, it was just the whole sequence itself. It’s a team thing.”
The Mustangs have two remaining regular season games left on the schedule — an away match at UC Davis on Wednesday and the second installment of the 2012 Blue-Green Rivalry against UC Santa Barbara at home Saturday night.
Women’s Soccer
Meanwhile in women’s soccer, the Mustangs vanquished the Gauchos 1-0 on Sunday with a goal from freshman forward Elise Krieghoff in the 72nd minute. Her goal marked her 11th goal of the season.
This year, the Big West Conference Tournament will take place at UC Irvine with the women’s team in third place behind Cal State Northridge and first place Cal State Fullerton.