SAN LUIS OBISPO – The best-attended series in collegiate soccer opens Wednesday, Oct. 7 as Big West Conference-leading Cal Poly (4-6-0, 2-0-0) visits No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (7-2-1, 1-0-0). Match time for the opening leg of the 2009 central coast derby at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m. Cal Poly, which has never previously opened a Big West campaign with three-straight victories, also seeks the program’s first win in Santa Barbara since Nov. 13, 1998. In fact, a pair of draws at UC Santa Barbara last season marked Cal Poly’s only points in Harder Stadium since that victory. Cal Poly finishes the week with a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup at Cal State Bakersfield on Saturday, Oct. 10. Ryan Foran will handle play-by-play duties of Cal Poly’s match versus UC Santa Barbara HERE, with the pre-match show beginning at approximately 6:55 p.m. GameTracker for the UCSB matchup is also available HERE.

UC SANTA BARBARA SERIES A ONE-WAY STREET: The Gauchos may lead the all-time series against Cal Poly, 18-8-2, but the Mustangs have produced just two series wins since the 2000 campaign. Cal Poly’s last victory against UC Santa Barbara was a 2-1 home decision in front of 7,143 spectators on Oct. 17, 2007. Last season, the Gauchos dealt Cal Poly a 1-0, double-overtime defeat at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Oct. 17 before the two programs produced a scoreless draw in Santa Barbara on Nov. 5. A week later during the semifinal phase of the Big West Tournament, Mustang center back Patrick Sigler’s 78th-minute goal helped Cal Poly salvage a 2-2 draw at Harder Stadium before UC Santa Barbara ousted Cal Poly on penalties, 4-3.

CENTRAL COAST SERIES A MASSIVE DRAWING CARD: Including the third-largest crowd figure in NCAA soccer history, 24,425 total fans and an average of 8,142 supporters per match witnessed Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara clash on three occasions last season. A sellout crowd of 11,075 spectators shoehorned into Alex G. Spanos Stadium for the nationally televised Oct. 17 meeting between the two programs. Another 9,749 spectators appeared in Harder Stadium Nov. 5 while 3,601 fans returned for a Big West Tournament match on Nov. 12. Since the start of the 2007 campaign, four of the top-eight regular season attendance figures in NCAA soccer history have occurred during Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara matches.

MCLAIN NAMED BIG WEST PLAYER OF THE WEEK: After recording his first collegiate clean sheets and compiling nine total saves during Cal Poly’s opening week of Big West action, Mustang junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain earned conference Player of the Week honors on Monday. During Cal Poly’s Big West opener at Cal State Fullerton Sept. 30, McLain made five saves and kept the Titans off the scoreboard until junior forward David Zamora provided the Mustangs a 1-0 victory with a headed goal in the 95th minute. Three days later, McLain turned UC Davis away four times as Cal Poly recorded a 1-0 victory to move to the top of the Big West table with six points. With the shutouts, McLain has kept Cal Poly’s opponents scoreless for the past 196 minutes. Entering Wednesday’s clash at UC Santa Barbara, McLain lowered his season goals against average to a 1.05 figure that ranks third among Big West goalkeepers.

TALE OF TWO SITES: While the Mustangs are 3-1 in Alex G. Spanos Stadium this season, have outscored their opponents, 7-2, and yielded just one goal from open play in 379 minutes, Cal Poly’s 1-0 overtime victory at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 30 was its first victory away from the central coast in six attempts. Additionally, Cal Poly has been outscored away from home this season, 12-5.

ZAMORA LACES UP SCORING BOOTS: A game-winning header in Cal Poly’s 1-0 overtime victory at Cal State Fullerton Sept. 30 and a team-leading five shot attempts during a 1-0 victory against UC Davis Oct. 3 have helped David Zamora regain his Cal Poly lead for goals (three), points (six), shots (20) and shots on target (eight). Zamora, who already ranks second in Cal Poly history in career goals (17) and fourth in points (39), enters Wednesday’s affair at UC Santa Barbara slotted seventh among Big West players in goals and eighth in shots. During the four matches he has appeared in versus UC Santa Barbara, Zamora has paced Cal Poly in shot attempts thrice.

BURGOS IN MIDSEASON FORM: Junior midfielder Junior Burgos made his highly anticipated Cal Poly debut against Portland Sept. 25 and has failed to disappoint through four matches as a Mustang. A member of the El Salvador Men’s National Team and a transfer from San Jose State, Burgos paced Cal Poly in shot attempts during his initial three matches, set up David Zamora’s game-winning goal at Cal State Fullerton Sept. 30 and slotted a penalty during Cal Poly’s 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, Burgos also spent a month this summer training with San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer.

RIGHT ON TIME: Both of the goals senior midfielder Daniel Cumming has scored this season have been game-winning strikes to help Cal Poly salvage valuable home points. Against San Jose State Sept. 20, Cumming’s 77th-minute strike broke a 1-1 deadlock. On Oct. 3 against UC Davis, Cumming found the back of the net two minutes before halftime to help Cal Poly post a 1-0 victory and move into first place atop the Big West standings.

MUSTANGS LOOK TO STAY IN FRONT: Having been outscored during the first half this season, 7-5, half of Cal Poly’s six losses have occurred when the Mustangs have shipped two goals inside 35 minutes. Most recently, Washington 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. Conversely, Cal Poly has never relinquished a lead this season.

MUSTANGS SPORT 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 10 matches in 2009. Junior forward David Zamora – Cal Poly’s leading scorer from a season ago – has poached a team-best three 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.

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.

Big West Standings (2006-Present)
1. UC Santa Barbara: 22-7-5 (71 Points)
2. Cal Poly: 16-9-9 (57)
3. Cal State Northridge: 13-10-10 (49)
4. UC Irvine: 12-14-8 (44)
5. UC Davis*: 12-6-6 (42)
6. Cal State Fullerton: 7-22-4 (25)
7. UC Riverside: 5-21-7 (22)
*Joined Big West in 2007

DISCIPLINE MATTERS: Eleven 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 17 total yellows and 1.70 bookings per match pale in comparison to UC Santa Barbara, which has accumulated 22 cards and averages a conference-best 2.20 per match. Additionally, Cal Poly’s 124 fouls and 12.40 stoppages per match are the fewest of any conference program. Conference-leading UC Santa Barbara, however, has committed 37 more fouls than Cal Poly and averages 16.10 per match.

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.

MUSTANGS FEATURE POWER-PACKED SCHEDULE: With three total matches looming against nationally-ranked Big West sides 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. 23 and 17, 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 10 matches this season and scored his first goal of the year during a 4-0 drubbing of Sacramento State Sept. 18. He also assisted on David Zamora’s game-winning goal at Cal State Fullerton Sept. 30.

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 came on as a substitute during each of Everton reserves’ first four match before starting in a 1-0 home loss versus Manchester United reserves on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Everton reserves (1-0-4) next play at Bolton reserves Monday, Oct. 19. Joining Peterlin in the professional fold are brothers Mario and Carlos Fernandez, both currently on one-year contracts with Spanish side Santa Pola CF. Carlos made an immediate impact upon his arrival, notching the only goal for Santa Pola CF in a 1-0 August victory against Crevillente. Carlos, appearing in central midfield, has played every minute of every match for Santa Pola (4-1-0) while Mario, showcasing his skills as the lone striker in attack, also has a game-winning goal to his credit. Santa Pola CF competes in the fifth-tier Regional Preferente de la Comunitat Valenciana.