Men’s soccer closes season with 4-1 loss to Cal State Northridge

Mustang News Staff Report
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The Cal Poly men’s soccer team saw its 2013 season come to an end Tuesday night, as the Mustangs fell 4-1 to Cal State Northridge in the opening round of the Big West Conference tournament.

Coming off two consecutive losses to end the regular season, the Mustangs entered Tuesday’s match with the odds stacked against them.

Cal Poly was without injured senior forward Mackenzie Pridham, who was named the conference’s offensive player of the year. The Mustangs also hadn’t beaten Cal State Northridge in five previous meetings.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Matadors scored 30 seconds into the match, giving Cal State Northridge an early lead.

Though the Matadors entered Tuesday’s contest ranked 12th in the nation with 36 goals, Cal Poly soon sent a friendly reminder that its 42 goals was tops in the NCAA.

Sophomore outside back Kip Colvey found the equalizer with 13:21 left in the first half, tying the score at one apiece. The goal marked Colvey’s first of the season.

But Colvey would cost the Mustangs a goal soon after. The sophomore got tangled up with Cal State Northridge’s Brian Behrad, resulting in a penalty kick for the Matadors.

With less than a minute left in the first half, the Matadors took a 2-1 lead and never looked back.

Cal State Northridge’s Sagi Lev-Ari notched his second goal on the night with 27 minutes left in regulation, putting the Matadors up 3-1. Nicolas Camacho followed with the Matadors’ fourth and final goal of the game.

The Matadors move on to the semifinals of the tournament, facing UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium on Friday night.

The loss marked the final game for eight seniors, including Brett Finkelstein, Chris Bernardi, George Malki, Mackenzie Pridham, Ronald Medrano Williams, Kevin Atkins, Mike Hocker and Connor Dreschler.

Cal Poly finishes the 2013 campaign with a 10-9-2 overall record.