Cal Poly Edges Yale 3-2 In Overtime

September 22, 2013

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Yale’s two-game trip to California ended in heartbreaking fashion.

Mackenzie Pridham scored 8 minutes, 51 seconds into overtime to lift Cal Poly to a 3-2 victory over the Bulldogs before a big crowd of 1,336 at Alex Spanos Stadium.

The loss spoiled what was a solid performance from Yale, who led the Mustangs 2-0 at halftime.

“It was a fantastic effort from our guys,” said Yale head coach Brian Tompkins. “We did a terrific job in the first half of putting them on their heels and scored two good goals.”

Cal Poly (6-2) received a vote in this week’s NSCAA national poll and has a 3-0 victory over then sixth-ranked UCLA on its resume.

It looked like the Bulldogs were on their way to an impressive win, but Matt LaGrassa’s header with 1:14 left in the second half tied the score at 2-2.

“That goal took a lot of the wind out of our sail,” Tompkins said.

Cal Poly had the only two shots in the overtime and the second one ended it. Pridham took a feed up the middle from Chris Bernardi and fired a shot into the back of the net from 12 yards out.

Yale (1-5) played perhaps its best half of the season in building a 2-0 lead. Freshman Cameron Kirdzik scored first at 19:00. Scott Armbrust set up the goal. He intercepted a pass, dribbled on goal and sent a perfect cross to Kirdzik.

Less than seven minutes later, the Bulldogs struck again. This time Peter Jacobson banged home the rebound of an Avery Schwartz shot.

While the results weren’t what he was hoping for, Tompkins was pleased with his team’s performance in the two games in California. Yale dropped a 3-1 decision to perennial national power UC Santa Barbara late Friday night.

“We learned a lot this weekend,” Tompkins said. “The team is definitely getting better.”

The Bulldogs have the week off before hosting Quinnipiac next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Reese Stadium.