Agnus FarrantThe quarter is coming to a close, which means that several fall sports are heading toward their final hours.
The weekly Monday Cal Poly athletics press conference resonated the concerns, accomplishments and defeats of various fall and winter sports.
Coaches present included wrestling head coach John Azevedo, men’s basketball head coach Kevin Bromley, men’s soccer head coach Paul Holocher, football head coach Rich Ellerson and women’s volleyball head coach Jon Stevenson.
The football and soccer seasons have reached the point of magnified final games.
The men’s soccer team (9-2-4, 4-1-4 Big West) experienced a stumble in its last four games, with three ties and one loss.
“We’ve been in the top 10 in the West region all year since week one, so I think they still have us up there on the board,” Holocher said. “I think, obviously, the next four games are everything. We have to do well these next four games. I can’t tell exactly what our record needs to be or how it needs to go but we’re definitely on the board and have a shot at it.”
The Mustangs lost 3-1 in their most recent game to UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 3. Although the team was defeated, Mustang fan support impressed Holocher.
“We had probably 200 of our own fans come down. We had Cal Poly students; we had a lot of Cal Poly families come down. And they were cheering and there were times that they were drowning out the Santa Barbara fans – just 200, maybe 300, strong. I got goosebumps over that,” Holocher said.
Cal Poly men’s soccer will compete against Cal State Northridge in Spanos Stadium at 7 p.m. today.
The Mustang football team (6-3, 2-1 Great West) moves into the final two games of the season after a 28-21 victory at Southern Utah on Nov. 3.
The homecoming game against No. 1 North Dakota State (9-0, 2-0 Great West) will be this Saturday.
“If we play like we have, it won’t be good enough this week. It’s that kind of an opponent,” Ellerson said. “These guys are really good. It’s not a fluke that they’re No. 1 in the nation. It’s not a fluke that they’re 9-0.”
He continued, “This will be an easy week to coach. This isn’t one where you worry about how motivated we are. If you’re worried about anything, you’re worried about guys being over the edge. We’ll be excited to play. (North Dakota State) is a very mature team. That was the best team we played by far last year.”
The Mustangs’ final game against Iona College is scheduled at 1:05 p.m. Nov. 17 at home.
Although women’s head coach Alex Crozier did not attend the press conference, it is important to note that this team (7-9-2, 5-2-1 Big West) lost 3-1 at Long Beach State on Nov. 2 and then tied 1-1 at Cal State Northridge on Nov. 4. The tie put the Mustangs in third place heading into the Big West Conference Tournament. The loss also cost Cal Poly hosting rights to the tournament, which will now be held at Cal State Fullerton.
The winner of the Big West Tournament will get an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The semifinal game against Long Beach State is scheduled at 5 p.m. Nov. 9. The championship match is at 1 p.m. Nov. 11.