Cal Poly Men’s Soccer wrapped up their first homestand of the regular season handing Gonzaga their first loss of the season, besting them 3-0 on Sunday.
The Mustangs (2-3-1) proved to be too much of an offensive threat for the Bulldogs (5-1-0), firing seven shots in the first half.
Gonzaga had plenty of scoring opportunities as they held a large corner kick advantage over Cal Poly, with seven over the Mustangs’ three.
However, Cal Poly’s defensive unit stifled the Bulldogs, allowing only ten shots, a season-low for the Bulldogs.
With the win over the Bulldogs, the Mustangs improved to a 2-0 record at home and have yet to allow a goal while playing at Mustang Memorial Field this season.
Junior defender Nico Baltazar, a transfer from El Camino College, took advantage of the Mustangs’ first-half offensive onslaught and found the back of the net in the 14th minute.
Baltazar had capitalized off a pass from sophomore defender Parker Owens to redshirt freshman midfielder Quinn Mahoney, who quickly redirected it towards Baltazar, allowing the junior defender to net the first goal in his Mustang career.
The Mustangs didn’t follow up on Baltazar’s success until midway through the second half. Mahoney would head in a cross delivered by graduate defender Jack Muoio in the 60th minute of the match, propelling Cal Poly to a two-goal lead.
Freshman forward Colin Pearce capped off the Mustangs’ highest-scoring game of the season thus far after receiving a ball from redshirt freshman forward Armin Tehrani and hitting the dagger with four minutes left in the match.
Junior goalkeeper Nicky McCune was forced to make only two saves throughout the match, allowing McCune to cruise to his third clean sheet of the season.
The Mustangs will look to carry their winning momentum into the second road trip of the season as they play an undefeated Utah Valley on Friday at 6 p.m.