Cal Poly successfully defended their Big West title and repeated as regular season champions, finding themselves in a three-way tie for first place in the Big West at the conclusion of the regular season, but their job is far from over.
With the three-way tie, the Mustangs clinched the third-seed in the upcoming Big West Championships, and were unable to attain a bye. Cal Poly will have to play in the opening round of the postseason to advance further.
The Mustangs have become regular participants in the Big West Championships – this is the program’s third straight year of qualifying for the playoffs.
The team’s success has been driven by a roster with some of the best talent in the Big West.
Postseason Accolades
Cal Poly’s 2025 squad etched its name into the program’s history books following the announcement of the Big West Conference awards on Tuesday afternoon. A program-record eight Mustangs collected at least one accolade in the conference.
Senior goalkeeper Nicky McCune was the only Mustang to receive a major award, taking home the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year for the second consecutive season.
McCune is only the second goalkeeper in Cal Poly history to win back-to-back Goalkeeper of the Year awards, with goalkeeper Wade Hamilton receiving back-to-back honors for his 2014 and 2015 seasons.
McCune has proven himself to be one of the more dominant goalkeepers within the conference, ranking third within the conference in overall goals against average with .783, save percentage with .785 and is joint-first in the conference with eight shutouts.
In addition to his Goalkeeper of the Year award, McCune was named to the All-Big West First Team.
Senior midfielder Bakuena Ramakatsa and junior defender and captain Parker Owens also joined McCune on the All-Big West First Team.
Senior defender Nico Baltazar, redshirt sophomore forward Quinn Mahoney and redshirt junior forward Sean McTague were named to the All-Big West Second Team.
Freshman Tanner Casey and redshirt freshman Michael Vick rounded out Cal Poly’s award-winners with spots on the All-Big West Freshman Team. Casey finished the season as co-leader of the Mustangs in goals scored alongside Mahoney, and Vick led the team in total assists.
A SLO start to the postseason
After two consecutive years of falling at the hands of UC Davis in the Big West Championships, Cal Poly has a new first-round matchup in 2025.
The Mustangs will face UC San Diego at home, entering the matchup with one advantage on their side already: confidence from an early season victory.
In the Mustangs’ previous clash against the Tritons just less than a month ago, Cal Poly decisively defeated UC San Diego in a 4-0 shutout. The Mustangs posted their season-high in goals scored against an in-conference opponent, while equalling their season low for total shots allowed, which was seven.
The Mustangs are also riding the momentum created by their success at the end of the regular season. Cal Poly won their final three matches to close out the season, inducing a shutout in each match.
The wins, and more specifically, the shutouts have been crucial in reinforcing Cal Poly’s identity as a defensive powerhouse. Late in the season, the Mustangs have had to patch the Owens-shaped hole left in the program following the junior defender and captain’s exit due to injury in the Mustangs’ loss against rival UC Santa Barbara.
Casey’s absence due to injury is another bullet the Mustangs have had to endure. With the true freshman injured, Cal Poly lost a significant defender, and arguably their biggest scoring threat on set pieces. Casey’s four goals on the season have all come from corners.
The series between the Tritons and the Mustangs has seen both sides trade back-and-forth blows to the other in their last five matches, with Cal Poly leading three games to UC San Diego’s two. Neither team has won two consecutive matches against the other since they first confronted each other as in-conference opponents in 2021.
“Every game is different,” redshirt freshman defender Cole Aman said. “We need to be comfortable. We know what we can do and what we can do to make it work.”
Key Players
Cal Poly has been plagued by several injuries throughout the second half of the regular season, including blows to the team captain Owens, and the Mustangs’ leading goal-scorers, Casey and Mahoney, among others.
With the injuries, Cal Poly has fully embraced the “next man up” mentality, entrusting the roles typically serviced by more experienced players to the younger faces on the squad.
“The ‘next man up’ is a huge thing for us,” Vick said. “I feel like everybody does that amazingly. So I know that the new guys we bring in, whoever it’s going to be, I know they’re going to do a perfect job in that role.
Underclassmen defender Vick is one of the fresher faces to keep an eye out for. Vick is tied for second in the Big West for most assists within the conference, with five on the season.
Vick tallied two of those five assists in Cal Poly’s previous match against UC San Diego, finding Casey on set pieces in order to contribute to half of the Mustangs’ offensive production within the match.
Despite the abundance of young talent within the Mustangs, the backbone of the Cal Poly squad is goalkeeper McCune, who has consistently placed within the top three within the Big West in all major goalkeeping categories in his two seasons as the Mustangs’ starting goalkeeper.
The defense in front of McCune also can’t be ignored.
Despite producing the sixth-most shot attempts within the conference, Cal Poly leads the conference in overall winning margin, which is largely due to defensive efforts.
Of their 18 games played throughout the season, the Mustangs have held their opponents to one goal or less in 13 of those matches. Cal Poly has yet to concede more than two goals to an opponent in a single match.
What’s at Stake?
Wednesday’s match, similar to other Big West Championships matches, is a single-game elimination match; the loser of the match’s season will be over.
With a win, Cal Poly can break a streak of first-game postseason exits, a trend that has haunted the Mustangs in each of their three postseason appearances since 2021.
“First and foremost, we’ve got to concentrate on what we’re good at,” head coach Ogie Kennedy said. “We’ve got to be ready and we’ve got to be able to adapt. We’re just sharpening those tools on where we want to be good in the game and how we can kind of set ourselves up for an advantage.”
The first round between Cal Poly and UC San Diego will kick off on Wednesday, Nov. 5. The match will be played at Mustang Memorial Field at 7 p.m.