SAN LUIS OBISPO – Big West Conference opening week descends upon the Cal Poly men’s soccer team as the Mustangs (2-6-0) begin their ninth affiliated season at Cal State Fullerton (4-3-1) Wednesday, Sept. 30 before returning home to host UC Davis (3-6-0) Sunday, Oct. 4. Match time at Titan Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. while Cal Poly’s rivalry renewal versus UC Davis at Alex G. Spanos Stadium is set for 1 p.m. Cal Poly is 3-5 in Big West openers, including last season’s 3-0 home whitewash of Cal State Fullerton. Additionally, Cal Poly has won its last four meetings against Cal State Fullerton and split the previous four season series versus the Aggies. UC Davis opens its Big West campaign Wednesday evening at UC Irvine. Ryan Foran will handle play-by-play duties of Cal Poly’s match versus UC Davis HERE, with the pre-match show beginning at approximately 12:55 p.m.

TALE OF TWO SITES: Cal Poly heads to Cal State Fullerton looking for not only its first road win of the 2009 campaign, but the program’s first goal from open play since senior midfielder Daniel Cumming’s 77th-minute game-winning strike against San Jose State – a span of 193 minutes. Including defeats against Portland (2-0) and Washington (3-1) at last week’s Husky Fever Classic in Seattle, Cal Poly is 0-5 away from the central coast and has been outscored, 12-4. Conversely, the Mustangs are 2-1 at home, have outscored opponents, 6-2, and allowed just one goal from open play in 289 minutes.

BURGOS OPENS CAL POLY ACCOUNT WITH APLOMB: Junior midfielder Junior Burgos made his highly anticipated Mustang debut against Portland Sept. 25 and failed to disappoint. A member of the El Salvador Men’s National Team and a transfer from San Jose State, Burgos paced Cal Poly with four shots against Portland and a further five attempts and a penalty during a 3-1 loss at Washington Sept. 27. Burgos, who started 11 of 13 matches at San Jose State last year and led all Mountain Pacific Sports Federation players with 77 shots (30 on target), was named in the El Salvador squad for March 28 and April 1 CONCACAF World Cup qualifying matches against, respectively, the United States and Costa Rica. Burgos, who has never earned a cap for his native nation, was first called into the national squad for El Salvador’s Feb. 6 friendly versus Peru in Los Angeles. Born in El Salvador and a graduate of Westmoor HS in Daly City, Calif., Burgos also spent a month this summer training with San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

MUSTANGS SEEK SIMILAR BIG WEST FINISH IN 2009: Bolstered by an unbeaten run of five-consecutive matches to close the 2008 Big West schedule, Cal Poly’s second-place showing in the conference standings last year was its highest finish in program history. En route to the No. 3 seed for the inaugural Big West Tournament, the 2008 Mustangs also matched a program record with just two conference defeats while Cal Poly’s haul of 18 points was its second-highest total in program history.

GOING BEHIND EARLY: Having been outscored during the first half this season, 7-4, half of Cal Poly’s six losses have occurred when the Mustangs ship two goals inside 35 minutes. Most recently, Washington substitute freshman forward Ryan Moore tagged Cal Poly for goals in the 30th and 35th minutes as part of a 3-1 Cal Poly defeat on Sept. 27. Cal Poly has neither led during any of its six defeats nor equalized when yielding the opening goal.

DISCIPLINE MATTERS: Ten separate Mustangs have earned at least one yellow card this season, but Cal Poly remains far from the most-disciplined Big West program. Cal Poly’s 15 total yellows and 1.88 bookings per match pale in comparison to UC Santa Barbara, which has accumulated 22 cards – an average of 2.44 per outing. Additionally, Cal Poly’s 105 fouls and 13.1 stoppages per match are the fewest of any conference program. Conference-leading UC Santa Barbara, however, has committed 42 more fouls than Cal Poly and averages 16.33 per match.

HOLOCHER MAKES CAL POLY A BIG WEST WINNER: Only one Big West program – central coast rival UC Santa Barbara – has totaled more conference points, produced more conference victories and suffered fewer conference defeats than Cal Poly since Mustang head coach Paul Holocher’s 2006 arrival. Below are the composite Big West standings since the start of the 2006 conference schedule.
 

    Program: Big West Record (Points)
1. UC Santa Barbara: 22-7-5 (71)
2. Cal Poly: 14-9-9 (51)
3. Cal State Northridge: 12-10-10 (46)
4. UC Irvine: 12-13-8 (44)
5. UC Davis*: 11-5-6 (39)
6. Cal State Fullerton: 7-21-4 (25)
7. UC Riverside: 5-20-7 (22)
*Joined Big West in 2007

MULTI-PRONGED ATTACK: Cal Poly featured 10 separate goal scorers last season, but the program has already had eight different Mustangs find the back of the net through eight matches in 2009. Junior forward David Zamora – Cal Poly’s leading scorer from a season ago – has poached a team-best two goals, but the Mustangs have also featured a variety of offense from some unlikely sources. While sophomore midfielder Jacob Hustedt equaled his goal total from a year ago with two first-half strikes against Sacramento State on Sept. 18, junior defender Daniel Gray’s penalty at No. 11 California Sept. 13 was his first goal since Nov. 18, 2007 – a span of 26 matches. Sophomore defender Cameron Walters, who has started 30 of Cal Poly’s 31 matches since his 2008 debut, notched his first career goal at Stanford Sept. 11 while freshman midfielder Michael Hocker scored his initial goal in the Sacramento State drubbing.

MUSTANGS ON THE SPOT: Cal Poly converted just two of five penalty opportunities last season, but the Mustangs have buried all three attempts from the spot in 2009. Daniel Gray’s 66th-minute spot kick at No. 11 California Sept. 13 accounted for Cal Poly’s only goal in a 3-1 loss. David Zamora recorded his second goal in three days when he buried a penalty past San Jose State during a 2-1 victory Sept. 20. Most recently, Junior Burgos converted a first-half attempt at Washington Sept. 27.

FORTRESS SPANOS: A 1-0 victory by UNLV Sept. 1 marked just Cal Poly’s third loss at Alex G. Spanos Stadium since the venue’s 2007 christening. Cal Poly, 17-3-2 at Spanos Stadium through two-plus seasons, has recorded 11 victories via shutout while Mustang goalkeepers have kept 12 clean sheets at home. Additionally, Cal Poly has drawn 1,000-plus spectators during 13 of its previous 14 home matches.

MUSTANGS FEATURE POWER-PACKED SCHEDULE: With four total matches looming against nationally-ranked Big West sides UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge, the conference portion of Cal Poly’s schedule is amongst the most demanding in Division I. That didn’t stop Paul Holocher from compiling a testing non-conference schedule. Cal Poly entered its Sept. 5 match at Creighton against a Jays side that was ranked second in the nation while California was a consensus No. 11 during its Sept. 13 showdown against the Mustangs. Furthermore, Stanford and Portland were both unranked when facing Cal Poly, but have since risen to No. 20 and 21, respectively.

SIGLER NAMED TO HERMANN TROPHY WATCH LIST: Following a 2008 campaign in which he was named Co-Big West Freshman of the Year and helped anchor a defensive line that paced all conference programs with nine shutouts, Mustang center back Patrick Sigler was selected to the 38-member Hermann Trophy Watch List Aug. 11. Presented by the Missouri Athletic Club since 1967 to the most outstanding Division I player, the 38-member watch list will be cut to 15 in November with three finalists announced in early December. The 2009 Hermann Trophy recipient will be announced Jan. 8, 2010 during a banquet at the St. Louis-based Missouri Athletic Club. Sigler, the lone Big West player selected to the watch list, has started each of Cal Poly’s eight matches this season and scored his first goal of the year during a 4-0 drubbing Sacramento State Sept. 18.

CAL POLY SELECTED THIRD IN BIG WEST PRESEASON POLL: A second place showing in the Big West standings last year was Cal Poly’s highest in seven affiliated seasons and conference head coaches selected the Mustangs for a similar finish during the 2009 campaign. Cal Poly received 34 points in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll to finish 11 votes shy of No. 1 UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos earned four first-place votes to finish five total points ahead of 2008 regular season and tournament champion UC Irvine, which recorded two first-place votes. The complete results of the coaches poll are below.

1. UC Santa Barbara (4) – 45
2. UC Irvine (2) – 40
3. Cal Poly – 34
4. Cal State Northridge (1) – 32
5. UC Davis – 20
6. Cal State Fullerton – 13
7. UC Riverside – 12
() First-place votes

CAL POLY’S PROFESSIONAL OFFSEASON: A trio of former Mustangs inked professional contracts during the offseason, the most high profile of which was defender Anton Peterlin. The 2008 All-Big West first team selection joined Everton Football Club of England’s Barclays Premier League from Ventura County Fusion of the American fourth-tier Professional Developmental League on July 1 for an undisclosed fee. After appearing in a handful of preseason matches, Peterlin has come on as a substitute during each of Everton reserves’ four matches, most recently during a 3-0 loss against Blackburn reserves Sept. 29. Everton reserves (1-0-3) next host Manchester United reserves Tuesday, Oct. 6. Joining Peterlin in the professional fold are brothers Mario and Carlos Fernandez, both currently on one-year contracts with Spanish side Santa Pola CF. Mario made an immediate impact upon his arrival, notching the only goal for Santa Pola CF in a 1-0 August victory against Crevillente. Santa Pola CF competes in the fifth-tier Regional Preferente de la Comunitat Valenciana.

LOOKING AHEAD (OCT. 5-11): Arguably the most-intense rivalry in collegiate soccer, Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara will contest the opening leg of the 2009 central coast derby at the Gauchos’ Harder Stadium Wednesday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. Last year’s match in Santa Barbara drew 9,749 fans. UC Santa Barbara (6-2-1, 1-0-0), which opened the Big West season with a 1-0 victory against UC Irvine Sept. 27, hosts No. 9 Indiana Friday, Oct. 2. Cal Poly also plays at Cal State Bakersfield (4-3-1) Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

ETC.: Cal Poly’s 2-1 victory against San Jose State Sept. 20 marked the only time this season Cal Poly had compiled more corner kick opportunities than its opponent.