For the third year in a row, Cal Poly have clinched a Big West postseason berth and have the opportunity to grab one of the top seeds in the conference later this week.
On Senior Night this past weekend, the Mustangs (7-5-5, 4-2-2 Big West) asserted themselves for their final home matchup of the season against CSUN (6-6-5, 1-5-2 Big West) in a 1-0 victory.
The win propelled Cal Poly into the No. 3 seed in the conference headed into the last week of regular season action, just two points behind conference leaders Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara. With the top of the Big West so closely contested, Cal Poly has everything to play for headed into their final matchup.
“We could be finishing as low as five or winning it, depending on what happens,” head coach Oige Kennedy said. “All we can do is go and get three points.”
Kennedy’s consistent approach during his time at Cal Poly has been a trademark of the team. The three points the Mustangs earned over the weekend mean that the Irishman has now led Cal Poly to the postseason in each of his three seasons as head coach.
The Mustangs have only reached the Big West tournament three times in a row once before – from 2008-10 – and although Kennedy is only at the start of his Cal Poly career, the reigning Big West Coach of the Year has been indispensable at the helm of the men’s soccer program.
The clinching match
Under his guidance, the Mustangs put together a stellar home performance on Sunday, earning another trademark shutout and dominating the pace of the match from kickoff to final whistle.
Senior goalkeeper Nicky McCune had a perfect match between the goalposts, saving three shots from the Matadors and moving up to second in the Big West with his seventh shutout of the year.
In addition to his three saves, the 2024 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year’s aerial superiority shut down every chance CSUN looked to create in the penalty box.
“It feels great knowing that I’m protected when I’m in the air,” McCune said. “It really lets me go up freely knowing that those guys have my back.”
The Mustang defense played their part, but Cal Poly’s attack still had work to do on the other side of the field as they aimed to dismantle one of the best defenses in the Big West.
Coming into the match, the Matadors had allowed a conference-best 11 goals on the season. That, along with goalkeeper Dorian Drucks leading the conference in saves, set Cal Poly up with a challenging task ahead of them.
However, midway through the second half, redshirt junior forward Sean McTague buried the deciding strike in the bottom-left corner of CSUN’s net.
In his fourth year with the team, McTague celebrated Senior Night prior to the match and had some extra support from the stands when he was on the field.
“It brought some emotions before the game,” McTague said. “So I’m just trying to take every game like it is and play like it’s my last.”
Now tied for team-lead in goals with four, McTague has picked up more responsibility as the season has gone on. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, he will now have to carry even more weight on his shoulders, as injuries continue to plague the Mustangs.
The postseason plan
2024 Big West Freshman of the Year and co-goal leading forward Quinn Mahoney, recently returning senior forward Luke Schaefer and junior midfielder Benji Jimenez exited the match with injuries on Sunday, adding to a growing list of injured Mustangs.
Cal Poly’s elite center-back duo consisting of reigning Big West Defender of the Year Parker Owens and star freshman Tanner Casey also both missed the match, with Owens unlikely to return for the remainder of the season.
To round out the all-star IR, 2024 All-Big West First Team midfielder Diego Guerra has also been out with injury for nearly the entire season.
As things stand, the Mustangs will have to find their way through the Big West postseason without some of their key weapons, making the already difficult task of winning a Big West championship even harder.
“Obviously, we would love all the guys to be healthy,” Kennedy said. “Our job is to try and give those guys as much of an opportunity to get back healthy, maybe towards the end of the season if we can keep winning.”
Cal Poly will need any advantage they can get, the first among them being a possible bye in the first round of the tournament.
The team travels to play No. 6 Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. A win against their inland rivals would clinch at least the No. 3 seed for Cal Poly, which would have them face the No. 6 seed in the first round of the tournament.
The Mustangs have the chance to move up ahead of UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton if either team loses their final matchup of the season. Cal Poly currently does not hold a tiebreaker against both squads, so a draw from either team will not help the Mustangs.
The final weekend matches, where the final seedings will be decided, can be viewed on ESPN+.
“Everybody’s fighting for their season, and it’ll be no different against Bakersfield,” Kennedy said. “So we’ve got to go there and we’ve got to try and get as high a possible seating as we can for the tournament.”
