Mustangs Surge in Big West Standings

by Chris Giovannetti

October 16, 2012

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Junior midfielder Nolan Moore’s first goal of the season in the 26th minute stood as the match-winning strike and freshman goalkeeper Wade Hamilton kept the Cal Poly men’s soccer program in contention with four saves on Tuesday evening as the Mustangs edged UC Davis at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, 1-0.

Cal Poly (8-5-1, 3-2-1) improved to 10 points in the Big West Conference North Division standings with Tuesday’s victory, closing the gap on both leader Sacramento State (7-5-2, 4-1-1, 13 points) and second-place UC Davis (6-5-4, 4-2-0, 12 points). No. 16 UC Santa Barbara (9-3-2, 3-2-1), which defeated Sacramento State earlier on Tuesday, 2-0, shares third place with Cal Poly on 10 points.

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Mustangs and Gauchos will renew their rivalry on Friday, Oct. 19 at 8 p.m. inside UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium. Cal Poly is seeking its first victory at Harder Stadium since Nov. 13, 1998. For the fourth time in five seasons and second successive year at Harder Stadium, the matchup between the Mustangs and Gauchos will be televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel. Topping CollegeSoccerNews.com's list of the 14 Greatest Rivalries in College Soccer, the Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara series has drawn nine of the top 25 regular season crowd figures in NCAA history.

“Everyone is in the race now,” seventh-year Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher said of the Big West standings. “We’re going into Friday night motivated to put on a strong performance. UC Santa Barbara is one of the toughest places to play, but we’re excited about the opportunity.”

Mustang junior midfielder George Malki forced UC Davis goalkeeper Omar Zeenni into a sixth-minute save, but it was his second shot on target that earned Cal Poly its opening goal. In the 26th minute, Malki fired in a shot that was stopped and then spilled by Zeenni. Moore streaked on to the loose ball and pounded a shot into the back of the UC Davis goal to put Cal Poly in front.

Cal Poly held UC Davis without a shot on target for the opening 30 minutes until Hamilton turned away Aggie sophomore forward Matt Wiesenfarth. During the final minute of the first half, Mustang junior defender Connor Dreschler slid into a goal-bound attempt from Aggie senior forward John Joslin before, seconds later, Hamilton made a sprawling save on a rebounded effort from junior defender Alex Henry.

“Wade was outstanding tonight. He had to deal with a lot of corners, throw-ins and set pieces and he came up huge on a few of them, especially at the end of the first half,” Holocher added. “He really showed his quality tonight.”

UC Davis mustered 11 more shot attempts during the second half – including a 58th-minute effort from Joslin that struck the cross bar – but failed to break through against Hamilton and the Mustangs. Hamilton added two additional saves in the second half to earn his second collegiate shutout.

Cal Poly junior forward Mackenize Pridham finished with a match-leading four shot attempts.

UC Davis accumulated 10 corner kick opportunities to Cal Poly’s two.