Big West Conference supremacy is up for grabs when the Cal Poly women’s soccer team hosts Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara at 5 p.m. Sunday in Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
The Mustangs sit alone atop the Big West, a half-game ahead of second-place Pacific and a full game ahead of third-place UCSB. A Cal Poly loss would set up a three-way tie between the teams.
“We’re expecting a great game on Sunday,” Cal Poly head coach Alex Crozier said. “They’re a good team and they’re well coached. It’s going to be a battle.”
After a slow start to the season, the Mustangs (8-6, 3-0) have come on entering conference play. The backline has been stingy recently, giving up just three goals in its last four contests. Crozier credits the defense as a large part of the turnaround.
“We had a lot of little hiccups early on in the season, where we’d give up a goal here or a goal there,” Crozier explained. “That’s not happening quite as much anymore.”
The defense will have to remain solid against UCSB (8-4-3, 2-1), which scores an average of two goals per game.
“They have a very dynamic group of forwards who are very potent on offense,” Crozier added.
Cal Poly’s last game, a thrilling 1-0 win over Cal State Northridge on Sunday, gave Crozier a milestone 200th win on a last-minute goal by Monica Hemenez.
“You couldn’t script a better kind of finish,” Crozier said of the heroics. “I think (200 wins) is a great accomplishment but I haven’t really thought about it. I’m sure after the season it will sink in.”
The Cal Poly offense will need to provide a big spark against probable starting goalkeeper Ali Cutler, who has just a 0.62 goals-against average this year.
Still, Crozier says the team can improve and has its best soccer ahead.
“We’re still getting better,” Crozier said. “We haven’t reached our potential yet.”