Cal Poly men’s soccer closed out Big West regular season play with a 2-0 victory over CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, Oct. 30 inside CSUB Main Soccer Field.
The win secured the No. 3 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament for the Mustangs (7-5-4, 5-1-3 Big West). Meanwhile, the Roadrunners (6-9-1, 5-4-0 Big West) will have the No. 4 seed for the tournament.
A first-half goal by freshman forward Ocean Salari and a late second-half goal from redshirt freshman forward Drew Patterson secured the victory for Cal Poly. Junior goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado also recorded his sixth shutout of the season.
The tempo of the match kicked off slowly with the first unsuccessful shot on goal coming in the 13th minute by the Roadrunners.
13 minutes later, the Mustangs placed two shots on target of their own, but also didn’t pose any imminent danger for the Bakersfield keeper.
The remainder of the half played out at the same pace as it had started until Salari netted his first goal of the season to open the scoring in the 41st minute. The score sent the Mustangs into halftime with a 1-0 lead.
In the first 45 minutes, Cal Poly proved to be more effective in the attack, racking up four shots on goal compared to just one from CSU Bakersfield. However, the Mustangs committed more fouls with ten compared to the Roadrunners’ seven.
Patterson came out into the second half in search of a quick goal within the first minute and 12 seconds to double the Mustangs’ lead, but was denied by the Roadrunners’ keeper.
Bakersfield looked to even the score in the 71st minute but was denied by Arce-Hurtado with back-to-back saves to preserve the Mustang lead.
Just nine minutes later, Patterson slotted in a goal past the keeper to extend the Mustang lead to 2-0 and secure the victory. The goal was assisted by junior forward Max Kleinhammes.
Cal Poly ended the night with six shots on target, double the shots on target by Bakersfield. The Mustangs also committed more fouls with 17 compared to the 13 by the Roadrunners.
The Mustangs will take on UC Riverside in the opening round of the Big West Tournament on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
