The men’s soccer team defeated San Jose State 6-1 this past week and won its third straight game on Friday night — a 2-0 victory over San Francisco. Photo by Zach Maher.
Stephan Teodosescu
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With Week of Welcome in full swing, the students packed Alex G. Spanos Stadium Friday night to witness the atmosphere that has become a staple of Cal Poly men’s soccer games in recent years.
And with San Francisco in town for the fourth of a five-game homestand, the fresh faces on campus were treated to a 2-0 decisive victory by the home side.
Senior forward Chris Bernardi scored Cal Poly’s opening goal with 21 seconds remaining in the first half, while senior defender Connor Drechsler slotted home the insurance goal more than four minutes into the second period to give the Mustangs their third consecutive win.
“You saw the positional play and the possession later in the first half and pretty much through the second half where we controlled the whole game,” head coach Paul Holocher said. “We had the ball probably 60-70 percent of the game.”
The Mustangs (5-2) not only controlled possession, but the shots that stemmed from their offense’s stinginess, as well. Less than a week removed from its highest goal total since 2000 — scoring six against San Jose State — Cal Poly attempted a season-high 25 shots Friday. San Francisco (3-3-1) took nine on the night in comparison.
Ever since Cal Poly implemented a possession-minded style of attack modeled after FC Barcelona’s play, the Mustangs have seen shot and goal totals rise. The team has now scored 11 goals in their last three games and has tallied 22 goals through the first seven games of the 2013 season.
“Teams now notice how we play,” sophomore goalkeeper Wade Hamilton said. “They notice that we try to keep the ball … We definitely try to stick to the style and keep the ball.”
Hamilton earned his second shutout of the season in the win.
While San Francisco got the majority of goal scoring opportunities early in the contest, the results of that style were on full display in the first half when Bernardi slotted home the game-winner on a run from midfield. He was fed a ball from freshman winger Justin Dhillon on the right flank before making a touch to set up his shot and rip it past Cal Poly transfer and San Francisco goalkeeper Chase Hauser. That marked the 100th goal by a Cal Poly player in Spanos Stadium history.
Drechsler put the game away at 49:25 when senior midfielder Mike Hocker sent a cross from the right side into the 18-yard box before it was headed back by Dhillon to Drechsler’s feet. Drechsler laced the ball into the back of the net to put the final touches on the win.
“The ball just kind of popped up and it was just sitting there,” Drechsler said. “I was wide open and I just tried not to miss. I put my head down and tried to put it in the back of the net.”
Drechsler’s goal was the second of his career. His only previous score was a game-winner against Penn earlier this season — the defender now has two goals on two career shots on goal.
“We’ve got good attacking players,” Holocher said. “These are guys that love to go forward and have been scoring goals their whole lives. It’s a culmination of the system and adding players to the system.”
In the win, 4,886 supporters packed Spanos Stadium — the highest fan total since last year’s 1-0 victory against UC Santa Barbara that saw 11,075 come through the turnstiles.
Cal Poly wraps up the homestand on Sunday against Yale. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.