Cal Poly women’s soccer started their Big West conference campaign with a 4-0 win over UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Sept. 15 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
The Mustangs (2-5-2, 1-0 Big West) went wire to wire, staving off some early threats from the Gauchos (2-6-0, 0-1 Big West) to pick up the win.
The scoring started in the 13th minute, as senior midfielder Camille Lafaix received a pass from freshman defender Camryn Penn and promptly put it off the right post and into the back of the net for her second goal of the year and the Cal Poly 1-0 lead.
This 1-0 advantage for the Mustangs would carry all the way into the halftime locker room.
Then in the 62nd minute, off an errant touch by a Gaucho defender, sophomore midfielder Peja Balanon lofted a shot over the goalkeeper and into the side of the netting for her first career goal for the Mustangs, doubling the lead to 2-0.
Balanon wasn’t done yet, as in the 70th minute, she received a cross from fellow sophomore midfielder McKenna Carbon, and volleyed a shot to the left side of the goal to make it 3-0 Cal Poly.
“All I can say is that it was a great team effort,” Balanon said about her performance. “This is an exciting start to Big West play beating our rivals the way we did.”
To cap off the scoring, senior midfielder Megan Hansen received a grounded pass off a Cal Poly free kick taken by senior midfielder Monserrat Hernandez Marquez and put it off the crossbar and in for her second goal of the year and the fourth and final goal of the Mustangs shutout victory.
“My defense killed it today, they kept us so connected and so motivated,” sophomore goalkeeper Mackenzie Samuel said. “They make my job super easy.”
With the women’s squad getting the job done in their Blue-Green rivalry matchup, it will be on the men’s team to secure the home sweep of the Gauchos on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
But for the women’s team, their next matchup will be against the University of San Diego in a non-conference matchup on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.