Mustangs Edged Monday at Denver, 2-1

Monday, September 8

Denver, CO

5 p.m.

1-3-0, 0-0-0

Denver (RV)

3-3-0, 0-0-0

Cal Poly

Denver

Mahoney Ball Strike Pregame CBU (Briote-Johnson)

Photo by: Chloe Briote-Johnson

Mustangs Edged Monday at Denver, 2-1

9/8/2025 8:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

DENVER – Sophomore forward Quinn Mahoney (above) scored his first goal of 2025 Monday evening, but the 90th-minute effort followed goals either side of halftime from Denver as the Cal Poly men's soccer program closed its season-opening, four-match road trip with a 2-1 setback.

"I think there's a ton of positives to take from the game tonight and it's a credit to the guys that we came away frustrated losing 2-1 against a team that was in the College Cup semifinals last season," said third-year Cal Poly head coach Oige Kennedy, whose Mustangs earned their first win of 2025 Friday at Air Force. "We had some chances, we hit the crossbar and we felt we were pushing in the end to get back into the game.

"Playing at altitude in these environments probably makes this one of the toughest road trips in college soccer. We have enough positives with our performances to be excited about the next slate of games at home."

Senior Nicky McCune – the reigning Big West Goalkeeper of the Week honoree – chalked up three saves for Cal Poly (1-3-0), which was kept without a shot on target until Mahoney scored 29 seconds from full time after a Mustangs corner was headed down by a Denver defender six yards from the goal line.

Cal Poly enjoyed Monday's first scoring opportunity, but freshman defender Michael Vick's 33rd-minute attempt struck the Denver crossbar.

The Pioneers then scored their opener two minutes later after forward Kyle McGowan accepted a pass up the left touchline from defender Dylan Akau before cutting infield and firing past McCune into the top right corner.

McCune produced his first save in the 43rd minute and another in the 63rd. A third save followed in the 64th, but the parried ball, however, fell for Akau, whose follow-up attempt went off the outstretched arm of Vick. With Cal Poly whistled for the penalty, Denver midfielder David Biggers slotted his attempt past McCune for the 2-0 advantage.

The Mustangs recorded four second-half shot attempts before Mahoney bested Denver goalkeeper Isaac Nehme.

Cal Poly returns to Mustang Memorial Field to welcome San Francisco for its 2025 home opener on Thursday, Sept. 11. Kickoff on ESPN+ is 7 p.m. The home stand continues against Saint Mary's (Sunday, Sept. 14) before concluding versus Utah Tech (Thursday, Sept. 18).