Men’s soccer
Former Cal Poly men’s soccer midfielder Anton Peterlin made his Major League Soccer debut on Sunday at Alex G. Spanos Stadium as his San Jose Earthquakes defeated two-time league champion Houston Dynamo 2-0 in the MLS Central Coast Showcase.
Peterlin entered the game in the 86th minute with his team leading 2-0 to the delight of the 1,587 fans in attendance.
He last played at Alex G. Spanos Stadium as a senior for Cal Poly last year, helping lead the Mustangs to their first NCAA Division I Tournament victory in team history. He was named an NSCAA All-Far West Region selection.
Cam Weaver opened the scoring for San Jose in the 62nd minute, scoring the first goal against Houston this preseason.
Ryan Johnson, who scored twice during action on Friday and assisted on Weaver’s goal, added the final touch for the Earthquakes as he scored unassisted just seven minutes later.
Men’s Tennis
No. 50 San Diego 6,
Cal Poly 1
The Toreros (3-3) took five of six singles matches and two of three doubles matches to defeat the Mustangs (3-4) on Saturday in San Diego.
Sophomore Blake Wardman defeated Nils Schive 6-4, 6-2 to claim Cal Poly’s only singles victory at the No. 5 slot while senior Darryn Young and junior Robert Foy defeated Charl Wolmarans and Juan Devilliers 9-7 at No. 3 doubles.
The Mustangs were able to hang with San Diego in many of the matches, narrowly losing the doubles point, falling by scores of 8-6 at No. 1 and 8-5 at No. 2.
Senior Andrew Gerst pushed No. 92 Charl Wolmarans to three sets at No. 2 singles, but fell 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 while at No. 3, singles junior Robert Foy fell to Nicola Bubnic in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
All four of the Mustangs’ losses have come against ranked competition.
Cal Poly opens Big West play with UC Riverside at noon on Feb. 28 at the Cal Poly Tennis Courts.
Men’s Basketball
UCSB 68,
Cal Poly66
UC Santa Barbara forward Chris Devine hit two free throws with seven seconds remaining to give the Gauchos a huge Big West Conference win on Saturday night in the Thunderdome.
With the win, UC Santa Barbara (10-13, 4-7) holds the tiebreaker over Cal Poly (6-16, 3-9) for the eighth and final Big West Tournament slot having won both head-to-head meetings this season.
The Mustangs started strong, leading 8-0 more than five minutes into the game. The Gauchos did not earn their first points until a Devine jump shot with 14:21 remaining in the half.
Cal Poly would build its largest advantage of 12 points, leading 24-12 with seven minutes remaining in the opening half.
UC Santa Barbara would not take their first lead of the game until the 17:12 mark of the second half on a layup by forward Jaime Serna.
The Mustangs would cling to a slim lead for most of the second half. The Gauchos tied the game with 47 seconds remaining on a jumper by guard Paul Roemer.
After the Devine free throws, Mustangs’ junior guard Lorenzo Keeler would miss a 3-point attempt at the buzzer to give UC Santa Barbara the victory.
Senior guard Chaz Thomas and Keeler led Cal Poly with 17 points apiece. Senior forward Titus Shelton had a solid all-around game, contributing nine points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks for the Mustangs.
Devine led all scorers with 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He also grabbed five rebounds and added four assists.
The Mustangs return to Mott Gym to begin a season-ending six-game homestand at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they face UC Davis.
Women’s tennis
No. 70 Cal Poly 6,
LMU 1
The Mustangs (3-1) swept doubles and won five of six singles matches en route to a dominating victory over Loyola Marymount (0-2) on Saturday.
With normal No. 1 singles player junior Suzie Matzenauer ill, junior Brittany Blalock, fresh off a convincing 8-1 win at No. 1 doubles with partner Steffi Wong, slid into the top singles spot and won a 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 decision over LMU’s Tina Razloznik.
Also moving up a slot was 120th ranked Maria Malec, who took a 6-4, 7-6 (3) decision over Jane Pringle at No. 2 singles.
Cal Poly was set to return to action this morning, but rain forced a cancellation in Santa Barbara. The dual will be made up at noon Friday when they take on the Gauchos.