Cal Poly men’s soccer defeated the Cal State Fullerton Titans 2-0 on Wednesday, Oct. 13 inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.
After Wednesday night’s win, the Mustangs (5-5-2, 3-1-1 Big West) secured sole possession of second place in the Big West Conference ahead of Saturday’s match against the first-place UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.
“It is very difficult during the week when we play Santa Barbara to have a mid-week game because everyone on campus is talking about Santa Barbara and all the interviews are about Santa Barbara,” head coach Steve Sampson said. “We needed to focus on Fullerton because these three points are very important.”
The Mustangs produced just three shots on goal the whole game, but two of them found the back of the net.
The first goal came early in the first half when freshman midfielder Nathan Colley’s shot hit off the left post and went in to open the scoring in the 15th minute and give Cal Poly the 1-0 lead.
The Mustangs capitalized again early in the second half when freshman defender Ori Britton scored off a cross put in by senior defender Jackson Brady in the 47th minute to give them a more comfortable 2-0 lead. Both Britton and Colley scored their first collegiate goals tonight.
“I am very proud of our freshmen,” Sampson said. “It was exactly what we were working on in training this week and they executed it.”
The Cal Poly defense once again led the way to another Big West shutout victory as they held the Titans (3-8-2, 1-4 Big West) to just two shots on goal. This was the third shutout victory in five conference matches for the Mustangs, who have only allowed two total goals in Big West play.
“Every time it goes back [to the defense] you feel like they are going to win it,” Colley said. “I have so much faith in them, and I know that they are going to do well.”
Cal Poly will look to avenge their 2-0 defeat against the Gauchos in a non-conference match earlier in the season when both teams face-off in an expected sellout Blue-Green Rivalry Game on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.