Cal Poly Hosts UC Irvine Sunday in Big West Home Opener

Sunday, October 2

San Luis Obispo, CA

5 p.m.

UC Irvine

Tickets

Photo by: Owen Main

Cal Poly Hosts UC Irvine Sunday in Big West Home Opener

9/30/2022 2:38:00 PM | Men's Soccer

SAN LUIS OBISPO – The Cal Poly men's soccer program plays the first of its four Big West Conference home matches on Sunday, Oct. 2, hosting UC Irvine inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium. Kickoff is 5 p.m. for Cal Poly (0-8-1, 0-0-1), which opened Big West action with a 1-1 Wednesday draw at UC Davis and occupies the middle of the conference table with the Aggies. UC Irvine (1-8-1, 1-0-0), meanwhile, was one of four Big West programs to win on opening day as the Anteaters prevailed at home versus Cal State Fullerton, 3-2 (Sept. 28). Winless until Wednesday, UC Irvine has sustained six one-goal setbacks this season.

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Zachery Anderson-Yoxsimer (play-by-play) and Grace Cutler (color) provide coverage of Sunday's matchup with UC Irvine for GoPoly.com HERE… live stats will also be available via GoPoly.com HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC IRVINE: Cal Polys looks to snap a five-game slide against UC Irvine, having defeated the Anteaters just once in the last nine matchups (that victory was a 1-0 triumph in the opening round of the 2015 Big West Tournament). Attempting to secure the program's first win at UC Irvine since Sept. 28, 2011 (a 1-0 win against the then-No. 7 Anteaters), Cal Poly dropped last year's road matchup on Oct. 9, 1-0. UC Irvine leads the Division I series, 19-10-8.

RUIZ ON THE SCORESHEET: Junior midfielder Tony Ruiz became the fourth Mustang on the scoresheet this fall after producing the 23rd-minute opener in Cal Poly's 1-1, Big West-opening draw at UC Davis (Sept. 28). Also with an assist against Houston Baptist (Sept. 5), Ruiz – an offseason transfer from two-year Hartnell College – has started five of six matches in his first season as a Mustang.

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 (Oct. 5, Oct. 8): Cal Poly returns to the road and back home when visiting Cal State Fullerton (5-3-2) on Wednesday, Oct. 5 and hosting UC Riverside (1-5-2) on Saturday, Oct. 8. Cal Poly has dropped its last four visits to Cal State Fullerton, but prevailed in last year's home matchup, 2-0. Cal Poly also looks to snap a four-match winless streak against UC Riverside, most recently falling at home to the Highlanders in the opening round of the 2021 Big West Tournament.

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.