Mustangs Open Akron Tournament with 2-1 Defeat of Syracuse

Friday, September 16

Akron, OH

4 pm

3-1-2

Syracuse

2-3-0

Cal Poly

Syracuse

Mustangs Open Akron Tournament with 2-1 Defeat of Syracuse

9/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

AKRON, Ohio – Senior forward Kyle Montgomery registered his first goal in nearly two years for the Cal Poly men's soccer program with a 14th-minute strike and sophomore forward Mac Pridham notched his first collegiate goal during the 49th as the Mustangs opened play at the University of Akron Tournament on Friday afternoon with a 2-1 triumph against Syracuse at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Montgomery (above), who notched a combined seven goals between his 2007 freshman and 2008 sophomore seasons before missing the last two years, broke the scoreless deadlock by whipping a cross-field shot from the top of the penalty area off of the far post and past Syracuse senior goalkeeper Phil Boerger.

Mustang junior forwards Benny Estes and Chris Gaschen each had shot attempts turned away by Boerger in the 16th and 27th minutes, respectively, before Pridham (right) popped the game-winning goal from seven yards out just three-and-a-half minutes after the break.

Syracuse (2-3-0), outshot by Cal Poly, 12-8, halved the Mustang lead just two minutes later through senior midfielder Nick Roydhouse, who corralled his own rebounded attempt and fired past senior Patrick McLain.

McLain, however, posted three of his four saves during the final 31 minutes of action to preserve victory for Cal Poly. The reigning Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week, McLain has surrendered just three goals in 600 minutes of action this season.

Cal Poly (3-1-2), which earned its second victory against a Big East opponent during a seven-day span after previously never having defeated any program from the conference, completes tournament play against fourth-ranked Akron at 3 p.m. PT on Sunday, Sept. 18. Akron, which faces New Mexico later on Friday, is the defending NCAA Tournament champion.