4-3-4, 1-0-1
UC Irvine
5-3-3, 0-0-2
Mustangs Finish in 1-1 Saturday Draw at UC Irvine
10/4/2025 10:06:00 PM | Men's Soccer
IRVINE – Junior midfielder Jackson Miller (above) converted a 10th-minute penalty attempt for his first goal of the season, but the Cal Poly men’s soccer program’s early lead was cancelled out by a 31st-minute UC Irvine strike as the Mustangs finished in a 1-1 draw at Anteater Stadium.
Senior goalkeeper Nicky McCune chalked up three saves for Cal Poly (4-3-4, 1-0-1), which extended its unbeaten run to seven successive matches. Collecting the road point, Cal Poly improved to four points in the Big West table and sits just two back of joint leaders Cal State Bakersfield and UC Santa Barbara after the opening week of conference play.
“We knew going into the game that (UC Irvine) is an extremely well-coached team and in possession they’ll make you work hard,” third-year Cal Poly head coach Oige Kennedy said. “We did that well and embraced the suffering out of possession but, when we had the ball, we didn’t value those moments enough. We can do better in possession and need to be more willing to take risks with the ball than we did tonight.
10' | Mustangs take the early lead Saturday at UC Irvine with a Jackson Miller penalty conversion!#RideHigh pic.twitter.com/uoVsOP6GYQ
— Cal Poly Men’s Soccer (@CPMensSoccer) October 5, 2025
“That said, we’ve picked up a valuable point on the road. We showed resilience in seeing the game out when we were under pressure.”
The Mustangs scored with Saturday’s first shot on target after sophomore forward Quinn Mahoney was bundled over inside the UC Irvine penalty area. Miller stepped to the spot and converted his attempt past Anteaters goalkeeper Joe O’Shaughnessy at the right post.
McCune recorded his first save of the evening in the 31st, but UC Irvine found the equalizer less than a minute later after a corner was cleared out to midfielder Isaac Powell, who centered for the goalscorer, forward Agaton Pourshahidi.
Into the second half, Cal Poly enjoyed three shot attempts and McCune produced saves in the 66th and 85th minutes to close the stalemate.
Cal Poly plays three of its next four matches at home, first hosting Cal State Fullerton at Mustang Memorial Field on Wednesday, Oct. 8. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
Team Stats
Jackson Miller
foul edge of left side of box, shot inside right post
09:50
Agaton Pourshahidi (2)
Assisted By: Isaac Powell
corner cleared out to 18, up right wing, centered to 9, goal through 5-hole
30:10
