The penultimate home match of the season for the Cal Poly Men’s Soccer saw the Mustangs play to a 1-1 draw against UC Irvine on Wednesday to remain unbeaten at Mustang Memorial Field.
The Mustangs (6-4-6, 3-1-3 Big West) entered the match with the Anteaters (6-7-2, 3-3-1 Big West) in a three-way tie for first in the Big West Conference with UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Bakersfield.
Following the draw, the Mustangs fell to second place, with the Gauchos taking sole ownership of the top spot in the Big West.
Cal Poly applied the offensive pressure early in the match. In the fourth minute, a throw-in from graduate defender Jack Muoio found redshirt freshman midfielder Quinn Mahoney within the UC Irvine penalty area.
Mahoney quickly gained control of the ball and rocketed it into the net, finding nylon to put the Mustangs up one score.
The team’s goals leader continued to add to the resume of his offensively dominant season, as the goal was Mahoney’s fourth of the season.
“Getting the ball in great spots from my teammates that are finding me in the pocket space helps a lot,” Mahoney said. “Without my teammates, I’m not able to score any of those types of goals.”
The Mustangs only increased the offensive pressure following the score and produced more attacking chances throughout the match, recording more corner kicks than the Anteaters, 6-5.
In addition, Cal Poly launched 18 shot attempts throughout the match, a season-high within conference play for the Mustangs.
However, following the early goal, the Mustangs could only test the opposing goalkeeper, Luke Pruter, twice more.
Cal Poly carried the early lead through the first half, though it quickly dissolved after the second half began play.
UC Irvine forward Misael Gutierrez scored the equalizer in the 55th minute, rocketing the ball into the back of the net following a chaotic scramble in the Cal Poly penalty area.
The Mustang defense maintained the tie through the final whistle, holding back an equally strong Anteater attack that had attempted an equivalent 18 shots in the match.
Junior goalkeeper Nicky McCune recorded a career-high seven saves on the evening. In a series of late-game heroics, McCune recorded three of the seven saves, turning away three consecutive shots-on-goal in the 86th minute to preserve the draw.
“The only thing on my mind was to get back into the goal and keep the ball out of the net,” McCune said. “This is what we train for – we work really hard as goalkeepers and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.”
Cal Poly looks to finish strong as the Mustangs play their penultimate game of the season against Cal State Northridge in the final away match on Saturday, Oct. 24th, at 7 p.m.