Cal Poly Hosts Sacramento State in Pivotal Wednesday Matchup

Wednesday, October 19

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

Sacramento State

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Hosts Sacramento State in Pivotal Wednesday Matchup

10/18/2022 12:52:00 PM | Men's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Sitting on the outside edge of Big West Conference Tournament qualification, the Cal Poly men's soccer program – playing two of its final three regular season matches at home inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium – hosts Sacramento State on Wednesday, Nov. 19. Kickoff is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which enters Wednesday's match as one of three programs – alongside Sacramento State and UC Irvine – tied for seventh place in the Big West standings on six points. With the top six programs in the table qualifying for the Nov. 2, 5 and 12 Big West Tournament, Cal Poly, UC Irvine and Sacramento State trail sixth-place UC San Diego by three points. Following Wednesday's home matchup, Cal Poly visits Blue-Green rival and Big West leader UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Oct. 22. Sacramento State climbed into the sixth place tie with a 2-1 home win against UC Riverside (Oct. 15), snapping a four-game slide.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Video via ESPN+ and live stats for Wednesday's home matchup against Sacramento State and Saturday's visit to UC Santa Barbara will be available HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS SACRAMENTO STATE: Undefeated against Sacramento State in its last three matchups, Cal Poly has won three of its last four home meetings versus the Hornets. The two programs finished in a 1-1 draw at Sacramento State last season and, with the Hornets making their first trip to Alex G. Spanos Stadium in four years, Cal Poly leads the Division I series, 15-9-4.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: With Cal Poly seeking its first victory against UC Santa Barbara since a 1-0 home decision on Sept. 30, 2018, the Gauchos remain undefeated against the Mustangs in the last six matchups – including securing a 2-1 victory at Spanos Stadium on Sept. 21. Cal Poly forced a scoreless draw at home against UC Santa Barbara last season, but the Gauchos lead the Division I series, 30-15-9.

BAUDEY, KESTLER MAKE EIGHT: Freshman defender Oscar Baudey scored his first collegiate goal and sophomore forward Jackson Kestler produced his first two during Cal Poly's Oct. 15 matchup at UC San Diego, bringing the program's total goalscorers this season to eight. Additionally, Kestler became the sixth Mustang to score his first collegiate goal this season and – following a brace from senior forward Max Kleinhammes against UC Riverside (Oct. 8) – is the second Mustang with a two-goal effort this season.

RUIZ SETS THE OFFENSIVE PACE … : Opening Big West action with goals in three successive matches, junior midfielder Tony Ruiz – owner of Cal Poly's lengthiest scoring streak in three years – remains ninth among Big West players with his three goals. Also Cal Poly's leader for shot attempts (19), assists (two) and points (eight), Ruiz – offseason transfer from two-year Hartnell College – has started in 10 of 11 appearances this year.

… AND KLEINHAMMES FOLLOWS: Scorer of two goals through his first 26 matches as a Mustang, senior forward Max Kleinhammes doubled his Division I total in 43 minutes against UC Riverside (Oct. 8) to match midfielder Tony Ruiz for Cal Poly's scoring lead. Ninth among Big West goalscorers, Kleinhammes has started in 11 of 13 appearances this season.

DEBUTANTE BALL: With Cal Poly featuring one of the youngest lineups in Division I (38 of the program's 44 rostered players are either freshmen or sophomores), 21 Mustangs have made their collegiate debuts this season.

CAL POLY SELECTED SIXTH IN BIG WEST CONFERENCE POLL: Highlighted by sophomore forward Drew Patterson's selection to the 11-player Big West Preseason Team, Cal Poly was selected for a sixth-place finish in the Big West standings following the Aug. 19 release of the annual coaches poll. Cal Poly earned 44 points and one first-place vote to finish directly behind third-place UC Davis (49), fourth-place UC Riverside (47) and fifth-place Sacramento State (46). UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine, who split last year's regular season title, each collected 71 points to return to the top spot in the preseason poll.

UP NEXT (SATURDAY, OCT. 29): Cal Poly closes the regular season and looks to solidify a Big West Tournament seed when hosting CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Oct. 29. Kickoff is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly, which has won four straight decisions against the Roadrunners and lost just once in eight meetings at the Division I level.

ETC.: Sophomore defender Conner Leber and freshman midfielder Richie Garcia were both named to the all-tournament team at Ohio State's Wolstein Classic (Aug. 25, 28) … the 10,392-fan attendance figure for Cal Poly's Sept. 21 home matchup versus Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara marked the 25th largest regular season attendance figure in NCAA history and the largest crowd – by 3,853 people – in the nation this season … Cal Poly's 2-1 home win against UC Irvine (Oct. 2) was its first against the Anteaters in seven years.