After a scoreless 107 minutes Thursday evening, the Cal Poly women’s soccer team (4-3-5, 0-1-0 Big West) was unable to secure a draw against UC Davis (8-3-1, 1-0-0 Big West) in their Big West Conference opener, leading to its first conference loss of the season.
The Mustangs’ best chance of the night came during the 26th minute of the game as freshman Kelly Kessloff had her shot on goal saved by UC Davis goalkeeper Alexis Smith. Following the save, junior Megan Abutin and freshman Caitlyn Kreutz tried to seize an opportunity with a shot and a rebound, although the attack was stopped again by Smith. Elise Krieghoff also had a shot on goal during the 57th minute, rounding out Cal Poly’s shots on goal tally at nine.
Cal Poly’s senior goalkeeper Alyssa Giannetti had saves in the 11th, 31st, 54th, 80th, 85th, and 101st minutes, but UC Davis seized a scoring opportunity in the 108th minute with a goal in the upper-right hand corner of the net from Haley Hughes.
This is Cal Poly’s first loss to a team not ranked within the top five of the latest national coaches poll. The Mustangs travel to Hawaii to play the Rainbow Wahine (4-6-1) on Sunday, with game time slated for 8 p.m PDT.