Cal Poly men’s soccer came to a 1-1 draw Tuesday, Sept. 12 at Mustang Memorial Field against the Utah Valley Wolverines.
The Mustangs (0-3-1) are still searching for their first win but do end their three-game losing streak to open the season against the Wolverines (1-4-1).
An early foul by sophomore forward Sean McTague set the tone for a game that would see both teams combine for 31 fouls.
The first scoring chance for the Mustangs came in the 14th minute when a cross found an unmarked junior midfielder Nate Colley right on top of the six-yard box. However, Colley couldn’t corral it on the net and the shot went wide.
Another scoring opportunity came in the 18th minute as McTague was the benefactor of a breakout pass off a Utah Valley turnover down the right side of the field where he took two dribbles before curling it into the goal for the opening score.
During the middle of the first half, Utah Valley’s Alejandro Silva and freshman defender Parker Owens picked up yellow cards for unsportsmanlike behavior.
The defense did its part with graduate transfer student Justin Siegel stopping all four shots on target in the first half.
As the second half progressed the Wolverines Kendi Bellini picked up a yellow card in the 61st minute while a 71st-minute scuffle resulted in a yellow for both Owen Knecht and junior forward Ashton Alonge.
The breakthrough for the Wolverines came in the 80th minute off a corner kick. Played out to the top of the box where no one was marking Alejandro Silva who punched their shot through traffic to equalize the score.
The excitement for the Wolverines wouldn’t last long as Kendi Bellini picked up their marching orders after a hard foul in the 84th minute resulted in his second yellow, leaving Utah Valley down to ten men to finish out the match.
Despite the man advantage, the Mustangs were unable to apply enough pressure to find a winner and the final horn sounded with a 1-1 draw.
Cal Poly ended the night with only three shots on goal compared to the Utah Valley’s seven.
The Mustangs look to find the win column on Sunday, Sept. 17, inside Mustang Memorial field as they take on Air Force at 3 p.m.