SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The CSUB men's soccer team couldn't quite pull off a second
consecutive late comeback, falling in a chippy preconference finale at Cal
Poly, 2-1, Wednesday night in San Luis
Obispo.
The match featured 21 fouls, seven yellow cards, including
five for the host Mustangs, and a decisive penalty kick opportunity.
As they did in their win over Mt.
Saint Mary's Sunday in Las Vegas, the Roadrunners fell behind as Cal Poly
sandwiched goals around the interval to take a 2-0 lead. But CSUB took control
from that point, quickly pulling one goal back and outshooting the Mustangs 9-3
over the final half hour as it searched in vain for the equalizer.
Cal Poly broke the ice in the 34th minute when
Justin Hill took a pass from David Zamora and weaved around CSUB goalkeeper Shane
Ascheri for his first goal of the season. Jake Hustedt added what proved to be
a crucial insurance goal in the 62nd by finishing a penalty kick
after a tough hand ball call in the box.
"It was a carbon copy of our match against Mt. Saint Mary's in many ways," said CSUB Head Coach
Simon Tobin. "Just like that match, we conceded a penalty to go down 2-0 before
we started playing. It really was one-way traffic after that goal, but Cal Poly
is a bit better than Mt. Saint Mary's,
and despite some great chances, we couldn't get the second goal."
Hustedt's marker breathed life into the Roadrunner attack,
and Richard Menjivar needed but a minute to cut the Mustang lead in half.
Menjivar took a nice feed from Gyasi Zaredes inside the penalty area and finished
true for his second of the season.
With the exception of one brief flurry, the Roadrunners
carried the action over the final half hour, but couldn't find the second goal.
Taking advantage of the last of five second half yellow cards awarded to Cal
Poly, the Roadrunners had a chance in the final seconds, but Kory Kindle's
attempt with four seconds remaining went wide.
"We knew Cal Poly would be tough to beat at their place,"
said Tobin. "They're going to win some games in the Big West. I'm a bit disappointed
with the result, to be honest, but I've said all along that our focus is on
conference and that begins Sunday."
CSUB opens its second season of Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation play Sunday with a trip to Seattle University.
