7,143 fans pack Spanos Stadium for Cal Poly's Oct. 17, 2017 match versus UC Santa Barbara
Flashback Friday: Beginning of a Rivalry
10/16/2020 1:18:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Editor's Note: Each Friday from September through mid-December, Cal Poly Athletics will revisit a notable game from the department's history in the Flashback Friday series presented by Pacific Eye.
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Forward Anthony Grillo normally arrived for a Cal Poly men's soccer match a couple hours ahead of kickoff when the only people inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium were event staffers setting up equipment.
On Oct. 17, 2007, however, he had a difficult time finding a parking spot. As he walked into Spanos Stadium, fans waiting in line for entrance to the stadium wished him good luck.
It certainly didn't mirror his normal routine. It certainly wouldn't be a normal game. And by the end of the night the matchup nearing kickoff – Cal Poly at home to UC Santa Barbara – wouldn't be a normal college soccer game ever again.
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"Rivalries are funny; they can exist even if historically one-sided," said Grillo, a native of Sun Valley, Nev. "Yes, we were rivals with UC Santa Barbara, but mostly because of proximity. Not because we had been splitting results."
Cal Poly transitioned to the Division I level ahead of the 1994 season and, from 1994-2006, faced UC Santa Barbara 23 times. The Gauchos prevailed on 16 occasions. From 2001-06, UC Santa Barbara won 12 straight decisions with Cal Poly scoring just five times against the Gauchos in six years.
While Cal Poly finished without a winning season from 1999 to 2006, UC Santa Barbara emerged as a national power, falling in the 2004 NCAA College Cup final to Indiana on penalties before edging UCLA, 2-1, to win the 2006 national championship.
Beginning with the 2006 season, however, results began changing for Cal Poly. That year, the Mustangs finished a respectable 7-8-1 and in fourth place in the Big West standings under first-year head coach Paul Holocher.
In 2007, the Cal Poly program sought a way to inaugurate its remodeled home – 11,075-seat Spanos Stadium. A Break the Attendance Record promotion was conceived as the program looked to eclipse a previous mark thought to be approximately 3,000 fans. The date: Wednesday, Oct. 17. The opponent: defending national champion and 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
"We were in the locker room before the game and had never heard people (in the stands above the locker room). They were usually only on the other side of the stadium," Grillo said. "But they were yelling and chanting (on top of us). It was incredible. We went out for warmups to cheers."
Attendance expectations were demolished as 7,143 fans flocked to the stadium – a total that ranked, at the time, as the eighth largest regular season crowd figure in NCAA history. It has since been relegated to 59th place.
"I arrived at Cal Poly in 2004 and (the UC Santa Barbara match) was always a game that was circled on the schedule," Grillo said. "It was the highest attended game, but we were probably drawing hundreds of fans, not thousands."
On the field that evening, Cal Poly opened the scoring in the 16th minute as freshman forward David Zamora – with one his team-leading six goals that year – buried a free kick from the top of the UC Santa Barbara penalty area.
UC Santa Barbara, however, equalized just 34 seconds before halftime through a header from substitute David Walker.
"UC Santa Barbara's lineup was unreal. They had multiple guys known to be headed for Major League Soccer and they were running at us. But, we were Cal Poly – we could take a punch and keep fighting," Grillo said. "Sitting at half tied, we knew we had a chance. We knew that if we kept to the game plan of being tight defensively and taking our chances when we got them, we could knock them off. I can't remember the halftime talk, but there was a buzz. It was just electric. There was excitement in the crowd and we had put ourselves in a position to win."
Cal Poly's decisive opportunity appeared just four minutes into the second half.
"(Midfielder) Brian Jones earned a free kick near midfield and (forward) Tim White flicked the ball to me. I looked up and saw that their goalie was out of position and I made great contact," Grillo said. "I saw it going in and turned around and put my hands in the air. The crowd erupted.
"(Current Cal Poly head coach) Steve Sampson had given our pregame speech that night and said, 'when you score tonight and beat them, act like you've been there before.' I heard his words, but we'd never been there before! So, we muted our celebrations and just ran back to midfield.
"My mom had surprised me and flown in for the game that day. I knew where she normally sat and was trying to find her as I ran back for the restart, but there were so many people going crazy I didn't find her until a few minutes had passed. It was an incredible feeling."
Grillo's goal was his first and only in four seasons and 46 collegiate appearances.
In goal for the Mustangs, junior Eric Branagan-Franco recorded seven saves to preserve Cal Poly's lead.
At the full-time whistle, fans flooded onto the Spanos Stadium turf to celebrate Cal Poly's first win against UC Santa Barbara in seven years.
Seventeen days later, Cal Poly visited UC Santa Barbara to close the regular season series. The Gauchos upped the attendance ante, drawing 8,102 fans in a 3-1 victory against the Mustangs.
Since 2007, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara have met 24 times in the regular season. Not one of those contests has drawn fewer than the 7,143 fans recorded on Oct. 17, 2007. Matches between the two sides have produced 24 of the top 60 – 40 percent – best attended matches in NCAA regular season history. During the last 12 seasons, Cal Poly has sold out all 11,075 seats at Spanos Stadium for its match against UC Santa Barbara 10 times.
"I honestly think they didn't see us as a rival until after that night, further as a worthy rival until we continued to beat them as the years passed," Grillo said. "I think the game would have always had a higher attendance because of how close the schools are but, with us beating them and showing that we were a worthy opponent, it set things off."
@CPMustangs • #RideHigh
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Forward Anthony Grillo normally arrived for a Cal Poly men's soccer match a couple hours ahead of kickoff when the only people inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium were event staffers setting up equipment.
On Oct. 17, 2007, however, he had a difficult time finding a parking spot. As he walked into Spanos Stadium, fans waiting in line for entrance to the stadium wished him good luck.
It certainly didn't mirror his normal routine. It certainly wouldn't be a normal game. And by the end of the night the matchup nearing kickoff – Cal Poly at home to UC Santa Barbara – wouldn't be a normal college soccer game ever again.
-----
"Rivalries are funny; they can exist even if historically one-sided," said Grillo, a native of Sun Valley, Nev. "Yes, we were rivals with UC Santa Barbara, but mostly because of proximity. Not because we had been splitting results."Cal Poly transitioned to the Division I level ahead of the 1994 season and, from 1994-2006, faced UC Santa Barbara 23 times. The Gauchos prevailed on 16 occasions. From 2001-06, UC Santa Barbara won 12 straight decisions with Cal Poly scoring just five times against the Gauchos in six years.
While Cal Poly finished without a winning season from 1999 to 2006, UC Santa Barbara emerged as a national power, falling in the 2004 NCAA College Cup final to Indiana on penalties before edging UCLA, 2-1, to win the 2006 national championship.
Beginning with the 2006 season, however, results began changing for Cal Poly. That year, the Mustangs finished a respectable 7-8-1 and in fourth place in the Big West standings under first-year head coach Paul Holocher.
In 2007, the Cal Poly program sought a way to inaugurate its remodeled home – 11,075-seat Spanos Stadium. A Break the Attendance Record promotion was conceived as the program looked to eclipse a previous mark thought to be approximately 3,000 fans. The date: Wednesday, Oct. 17. The opponent: defending national champion and 15th-ranked UC Santa Barbara.
"We were in the locker room before the game and had never heard people (in the stands above the locker room). They were usually only on the other side of the stadium," Grillo said. "But they were yelling and chanting (on top of us). It was incredible. We went out for warmups to cheers."
Attendance expectations were demolished as 7,143 fans flocked to the stadium – a total that ranked, at the time, as the eighth largest regular season crowd figure in NCAA history. It has since been relegated to 59th place.
"I arrived at Cal Poly in 2004 and (the UC Santa Barbara match) was always a game that was circled on the schedule," Grillo said. "It was the highest attended game, but we were probably drawing hundreds of fans, not thousands."
On the field that evening, Cal Poly opened the scoring in the 16th minute as freshman forward David Zamora – with one his team-leading six goals that year – buried a free kick from the top of the UC Santa Barbara penalty area.
UC Santa Barbara, however, equalized just 34 seconds before halftime through a header from substitute David Walker.
"UC Santa Barbara's lineup was unreal. They had multiple guys known to be headed for Major League Soccer and they were running at us. But, we were Cal Poly – we could take a punch and keep fighting," Grillo said. "Sitting at half tied, we knew we had a chance. We knew that if we kept to the game plan of being tight defensively and taking our chances when we got them, we could knock them off. I can't remember the halftime talk, but there was a buzz. It was just electric. There was excitement in the crowd and we had put ourselves in a position to win."
Cal Poly's decisive opportunity appeared just four minutes into the second half.
"(Midfielder) Brian Jones earned a free kick near midfield and (forward) Tim White flicked the ball to me. I looked up and saw that their goalie was out of position and I made great contact," Grillo said. "I saw it going in and turned around and put my hands in the air. The crowd erupted.
"(Current Cal Poly head coach) Steve Sampson had given our pregame speech that night and said, 'when you score tonight and beat them, act like you've been there before.' I heard his words, but we'd never been there before! So, we muted our celebrations and just ran back to midfield.
"My mom had surprised me and flown in for the game that day. I knew where she normally sat and was trying to find her as I ran back for the restart, but there were so many people going crazy I didn't find her until a few minutes had passed. It was an incredible feeling."
Grillo's goal was his first and only in four seasons and 46 collegiate appearances.
In goal for the Mustangs, junior Eric Branagan-Franco recorded seven saves to preserve Cal Poly's lead.
At the full-time whistle, fans flooded onto the Spanos Stadium turf to celebrate Cal Poly's first win against UC Santa Barbara in seven years.
Seventeen days later, Cal Poly visited UC Santa Barbara to close the regular season series. The Gauchos upped the attendance ante, drawing 8,102 fans in a 3-1 victory against the Mustangs.
Since 2007, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara have met 24 times in the regular season. Not one of those contests has drawn fewer than the 7,143 fans recorded on Oct. 17, 2007. Matches between the two sides have produced 24 of the top 60 – 40 percent – best attended matches in NCAA regular season history. During the last 12 seasons, Cal Poly has sold out all 11,075 seats at Spanos Stadium for its match against UC Santa Barbara 10 times.
"I honestly think they didn't see us as a rival until after that night, further as a worthy rival until we continued to beat them as the years passed," Grillo said. "I think the game would have always had a higher attendance because of how close the schools are but, with us beating them and showing that we were a worthy opponent, it set things off."
@CPMustangs • #RideHigh
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