Cal Poly Men’s Soccer extended their unbeaten streak to six straight games with their 1-0 win over UC Davis at Aggie Soccer Field on Wednesday.
The Mustangs (4-3-3, 1-0) earned their first Big West Conference win of the season after defeating the Aggies (4-3-3, 0-1) to win their first Big West Conference opener since 2017.
The lone goal in the matchup came in the 27th minute, as freshman midfielder Quinn Mahoney recorded his third assist of the year on a crucial through ball to junior forward Oren Stuppel.
Stuppel took advantage of the breakaway to chip Aggie’s goalkeeper Noah Schwengeler and put Cal Poly ahead, becoming the Mustangs’ eighth different goalscorer in 2024.
Junior goalkeeper Nicky McCune, coming off of his second Big West Defensive Player of the Week award of 2024, had another strong showing. He recorded three saves, leading Cal Poly to their fourth clean sheet of the year.
McCune’s 2024 clean sheet count is tied for most in the Big West, with his save percentage of 0.778 leading all goalkeepers in the conference.
The 1-0 victory was driven by a stellar performance by the Mustangs’ defense, a front that has allowed just one goal from open play in the last six games, as UC Davis outshot the Mustangs 10-5 but struggled to find the back of the net.
The Mustangs’ opponents have averaged 0.80 goals in 2024, ranking Cal Poly tied for 22nd in the nation defensively.
The last time the Mustangs have seen such sustained success across six matches was during two runs of the same length in 2015.
That year, Cal Poly reached the semifinals of the Big West Tournament and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, a feat it has not repeated since 2015.
Cal Poly will travel to face No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 4 p.m., just eight days after their 2-0 victory against the Gauchos at Mustang Memorial Field. The match will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
Unlike their first match of 2024, the second leg of the Blue-Green rivalry will count towards the teams’ conference records.
The last time the Mustangs beat the Gauchos in Santa Barbara was also in 2015, the same year Cal Poly beat UC Santa Barbara twice.
