Under the lights, the cameras, and the eyes of 12,000 disappointed fans at Harder Stadium, Cal Poly turned coal into diamonds on Friday night.

Trailing by one goal with 70 seconds left in a desperate must-win situation, a hopeful jaunt forward by the Mustangs shifted the tide of the season for two programs.

Following a collision between UC Santa Barbara goalkeeper Austin Mansker and Cal Poly striker Mac Pridham, the ball squirted free to the top of the box.

It was a golden opportunity for the equalizer, but, historically, Cal Poly squandered these chances and left their fans with a bitter taste in their mouths on the long drive back to San Luis Obispo up the 101.

After all, Cal Poly had never won on the road against UCSB since Tim Vom Steeg took over the head coaching position with the Gauchos in 1999.

Friday night was different though. Cal Poly relished the increasing pressure and let it show the team’s character.

Mustangs captain George Malki started to purge the demons with a thumping finish into the open net to push the game into overtime.

“I had to put that goal away or else I’d get killed by coach,” the junior midfielder said after the game. “It made up for the three opportunities that I missed before that.” 

Pridham, who is second in the Big West in scoring with nine goals on the year, curled a shot into the far corner of the net in the first overtime to put the first nail in the coffin for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos 2012 season.

“We were not playing for the ‘W’, we were playing for our love of this team,” Pridham said. “It came down to heart.”

After 14 years of futility, Cal Poly finally overcame its biggest curse and won an away game against the vaunted Gauchos.

“Our guys refused to have that feeling tonight,” Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher said after the game about the losing streak at Harder Stadium. “The quality in the last 20 minutes was extraordinary  . . . I couldn’t be happier.”

With five freshmen starting, the Cal Poly lineup, on paper, looked more hopeful than confident, yet after sustaining the early pressure from the home team, the young colts in green became Mustangs.

Freshman goalkeeper Wade Hamilton led the charge with a number of fine blocks, but perhaps none better than a kick save in the second half to keep the score at 1-0.

“They had a lot of great chances – it is Santa Barbara on their home turf - but we have a great goalkeeper,” Holocher said. “There is a reason [Wade Hamilton] is a national team ‘keeper.”

Hamilton’s saves, Pridham’s timely strike, and Malki’s leadership helped Cal Poly to the win. It may have just been three points, but it meant more and potentially shaped the final run for the Mustangs into the postseason.

“This is the second part of the season,” Pridham said. “We are hoping to get five more games and get into the tournament, but we are taking it one game at a time.”

There is potential for four of those five games to be at Cal Poly’s home stadium where the Manglers, the Cal Poly soccer supporters group, will be out in force.

“It has become a special sport at Cal Poly,” Holocher said about the Manglers. “They love the sport . . . it is a soccer country.

“We have more students on college campuses that played soccer than any other sport,” Holocher continued about the 13,000+ fans at Harder Stadium on Friday night. “There is no reason we can’t have crowds like this.”