Mustang News Staff Report
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The Cal Poly men’s soccer team is on fire.
The Mustangs (4-1-0) have won four straight games, seeing their only loss this season come at the hands of Davidson in a thrilling 4-3 match.
On Thursday, the Mustangs continued their hot streak, dominating Grand Canyon at home. The 2-0 victory was hardly representative of the flow of the game, as the Mustangs out-shot the Lopes 13-5 and did not concede a corner kick the entire 90 minutes.
Cal Poly’s free-flow attacking style was on display, seeing wing-backs Sean Dhillon and Kip Colvey dominate the flanks. The crosses they whip into the box to target forwards, senior Justin Dhillon and redshirt freshman Kaba Alkebulan, have created a handful of opportunities on goal.
Junior midfielder Matt LaGrassa opened the scoring in the 24th minute, coolly slotting home a pass from sophomore forward John Chronopoulos, his second goal of the season.
Despite dominating play, the Mustangs were unable to break through for a second goal until the 84th minute. Grand Canyon defender Jordan Slack mis-cleared a Cal Poly cross into the top corner of his own net, sealing the Mustangs’ victory.
Junior goalkeeper Wade Hamilton recorded his second consecutive shutout, increasing his goalless streak to 229 minutes and lowering his goals-allowed average to just 1.20. Hamilton had some help from his defense, however, which did not allow a shot on goal until the 88th minute.
The Mustangs will face an entirely different opponent when they head south to face No. 1-ranked UCLA (3-1-0) on Sunday afternoon.
Last season, the Mustangs made the same trip to Westwood and shocked the Bruins, defeating them 3-0. The Bruins will be the toughest test for Cal Poly thus far and will be a good barometer for the true potential of this strong Cal Poly squad.
The kickoff on Sunday is set for 5:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.