Mustangs Start Home Stand Saturday versus Saint Mary’s

Saturday, September 17

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 p.m.

Saint Mary's

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Mustangs Start Home Stand Saturday versus Saint Mary’s

9/15/2022 4:50:00 PM | Men's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's soccer program completes Big West Conference preparations with a three-game home stand that begins against Saint Mary's on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff from Alex G. Spanos Stadium is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (0-5-0-), which seeks victory No. 1 of the season against a Saint Mary's (4-2-0) side that has won three straight matches by a 10-2 goal aggregate. The Gaels most recently handed fellow Big West foe UC Irvine a 3-1 defeat on the road (Sept. 12). Following Saturday's matchup, Cal Poly plays its final regular season non-conference matches against UC Santa Barbara (Wednesday, Sept. 21) and San Diego (Saturday, Sept. 24).

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Daniel Gillman returns to provide play-by-play for ESPN+ … live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS SAINT MARY'S: The Mustangs have captured four of the last five matchups with Saint Mary's dating to 2002, including a 2-1 road triumph in the last meeting (Aug. 30, 2021). Saint Mary's last prevailed at home on Sept. 9, 2018 (4-0). Cal Poly leads the Division I series, 6-5-0.

RODRIGUEZ IN FRAME: Despite conceding multiple goals in his first five collegiate outings, junior goalkeeper Victor Rodriguez ranks 22nd among NCAA Division I players with 4.8 saves per match and 24th with 24 total saves. His 10-save performance at Ohio State (Aug. 28) marked the highest total by a Mustang since Carlos Arce-Hurtado produced 10 saves versus UC Riverside (Oct. 6, 2018).

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), 19 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 (WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 21): With another expected capacity crowd on hand, Cal Poly renews the Blue-Green rivalry with UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Sept. 21. Kickoff is 6 p.m. or Cal Poly, which seeks its first rivalry victory against the Gauchos in four years. Last season's match at Spanos Stadium finished in a scoreless draw. The 18 combined matches between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara during the last eight years are 18 of the 22 highest attended collegiate soccer games in the United States – including all NCAA Championship and College Cup matches. Since the start of the 2007 season, 292,192 total spectators and an average of 9,740 fans per match have witnessed Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara clash on 30 occasions.

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).