Cal Poly women’s soccer defeated UC Davis by a score of 2-0 on Thursday, Oct. 6 inside Alex G Spanos Stadium.
The Mustangs (6-6-1, 3-1-1) controlled possession throughout the game and tripled the shot output of the Aggies (4-5-4, 1-2-2).
The scoring opened up in the 21st minute when senior midfielder Monserrat Hernandez Marquez had a loose ball from fellow senior midfielder Camille Lafaix drop right in front of her, and Hernandez Marquez put it to the left of the Aggies goalkeeper to make it 1-0.
Not too long after, just 30 seconds, UC Davis had a 2-on-1 chance that was stopped by sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel. UC Davis forward Sarah Canavan left her foot in Samuel’s midsection after the play was over, and she would receive a yellow card.
Then in the 39th minute, the Aggies looked to go on a counterattack before senior defender Kylie Rojas hauled down the attacker, and she too would receive a yellow card for this action.
Cal Poly went into the break up 1-0 and dominated the possession battle 66-34. The Aggies, meanwhile, played the aggressor in the first half with seven fouls, five within the first ten minutes of play.
“We know we have to be gritty in this league especially,” Hernandez Marquez said about the physicality of the first half. “Every team is hard to play, every team is aggressive.”
Coming out of halftime, both teams looked passive in open play but aggressive on corner kicks. UC Davis thought they got the equalizer in the 62nd minute, as Aggie midfielder Leslie Fregoso received a flick-on pass from her teammate and beat Samuel, but she was just offside.
The aggressiveness on corners culminated in a 66th-minute goal by Lafaix. Off a touch in the box by sophomore midfielder Peja Balanon, another loose ball similar to Hernandez Marquez’s was put away by Lafaix to double the Cal Poly advantage to 2-0.
The Mustangs kept pressuring the UC Davis defense, as shots from Monserrat Hernandez Marquez, senior forward Madison Demijohn and freshman forward Emily Lieber were on target but none would find the back of the net, and the game ended with a 2-0 Cal Poly win.
The victory put the Mustangs in a tie with Long Beach State atop the Big West at 10 points, with third place two points behind the leaders.
Cal Poly will travel to face UC Riverside on Thursday, Oct. 13 in UCR Soccer Stadium at 7 pm.