Fresh off the heels of the best season in the Oige Kennedy era, Cal Poly men’s soccer looks to defend their position atop the Big West Conference in 2025 having snagged the program’s first-ever Big West Regular Season Title the season prior.
In a gritty match that demonstrated the defensive effort of both sides, The Mustangs fell to San Jose State on Thursday in the opening match of the regular season, 2-0.
The Mustangs (0-1) were looking to even the score with the Spartans (1-0) by whom they had been bested in an exhibition game earlier in the spring, 2-1.
The match was primarily a defensive bout, with the Mustangs looking to carry over the record-breaking defensive performance from the year before.
Cal Poly limited San Jose to just one shot attempt in the first half but were unable to capitalize on the opponent’s limited offensive opportunities, producing only three attempts in the same time span.
The Mustangs sang the same song in the second half, manufacturing only three more shot attempts, two of which came from sophomore forward Roman Anast but were both turned away by Spartans goalkeeper Edgar Guerrera.
Offensive opportunities were more prevalent within the second half, as Cal Poly were provided with five corner kicks within the period but the Mustangs proved to be unable to take advantage of the moments, producing only one shot of the five chances.
Senior goalkeeper Nicky McCune, the reigning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, allowed two scores in his first match of the season. McCune was awarded with zero saves on the night.
This match marked the second time in McCune’s collegiate career in which the veteran goalkeeper had notched zero saves in a match, the first being against UC Riverside on Oct. 12th of last year.
The stalemate of the match was broken in the 60th minute when Spartans midfielder Angel Fernandez rocketed a deep boot into the Mustangs’ right post, followed up by a dagger from Spartans forward Arnold Matshazi near the penalty area to double their lead.
The Mustangs were unable to respond to either goal by the Spartans and Cal Poly’s shortcomings in regards to finishing were ultimately their downfall by the time the final whistle had been blown.
A strong Cal Poly preseason
Cal Poly’s title defense unofficially began in early April – when the Mustangs hosted a string of five exhibition games against typical regular season opponents.
Having retained nine of the regular starting 11 from the year prior, Cal Poly looked just as formidable as an opponent.
The Mustangs went 3-1-1 in the span, including a 1-0 win against Stanford, the program’s first ever victory against the Cardinal.
Cal Poly outscored opponents 10-4 in the exhibition matches and had no more than two goals scored on them in a game, continuing the trend of a Mustang defense that had set records in 2024.
Cal Poly carried the momentum into the first match of the preseason, a battle against Pacific University.
The Mustangs’ offense, with the addition of one of its most dangerous attacking threats in senior forward Luke Schaefer returning from injury, annihilated the Tigers 5-0.
The Mustangs took their only loss of the preseason in another matchup against now No. 13-ranked Stanford, falling 1-0 in another defensive battle.
Mustangs were given under a week to recoup for the start of the regular season, a challenging stretch of four consecutive away games.
They will look to bounce back from the opening loss and continue their season-opening road trip at California Baptist on Saturday, August 30th, 7:30 p.m.