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Curtain Drops on Cal Poly's 2010 Men's Soccer Schedule

2010 MEN'S SOCCER SCHEDULE

McLAIN STARRING FOR ORANGE COUNTY BLUE STAR

SAN LUIS OBISPO – With a slate featuring eight regular season home matches at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and a further eight contests against programs that qualified for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, fifth-year head coach Paul Holocher and the Mustang Athletics Department jointly announced the Cal Poly men’s soccer program’s 2010 schedule early Thursday afternoon. “Each season we set out to challenge ourselves and we have done that again this year,” said Holocher, who guided Cal ...

Published Jul 1st, by Chris Giovannetti

SAN LUIS OBISPO – With a slate featuring eight regular season home matches at Alex G. Spanos Stadium and a further eight contests against programs that qualified for the 2009 NCAA Tournament, fifth-year head coach Paul Holocher and the Mustang Athletics Department jointly announced the Cal Poly men’s soccer program’s 2010 schedule early Thursday afternoon.

“Each season we set out to challenge ourselves and we have done that again this year,” said Holocher, who guided Cal Poly to an 8-10-2 overall record in 2009 and, behind a 6-3-1 Big West mark, the program’s second-successive second-place showing in the conference standings. “College soccer seasons are short but intense and each of the matches we have scheduled require both depth and quality within our squad to be successful.”

The complete 2010 schedule can be viewed HERE.

Cal Poly opens its 17-match regular season and the program’s 17th year at the Division I level on Friday, Sept. 3 with a 6 p.m. PT kickoff at Denver (5-10-4, 2009). The Rocky Mountain stint continues two days later as the Mustangs face Air Force (7-8-2) at 12 noon. Cal Poly last faced Denver in 2003 and Air Force in 2008, when strikes by midfielders Wes Feighner (above) and Dan Cumming accounted for the difference.

Cal Poly opens play at Notre Dame’s Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament on Friday, Sept. 10 against Indiana (12-10-1) at 2 p.m. The six-time national champion Hoosiers reached the third round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament before being eliminated by eventual semifinalist North Carolina, 1-0. The Mustangs complete their lengthiest road trip of the year on Sept. 12 at 11 a.m. against the host Fighting Irish (11-8-4), who reached the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

The Mustangs, 6-2-1 at Spanos Stadium (left) in 2009, open their regular season home slate against four-time NCAA Tournament titlist and defending Pac-10 Conference champion UCLA (12-4-4) on Friday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. The match marks the first meeting between Cal Poly and UCLA since the Mustangs eliminated the Bruins during the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament to produce the program’s only postseason victory at the Division I level. After receiving a bye during the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Tournament, UCLA reached the quarterfinals before being eliminated at the quarterfinal hurdle by third-seeded Wake Forest, 2-0.

Cal Poly, which finished sixth among NCAA Division I attendance leaders in 2009 after averaging 2,213 supporters per match, continues its opening homestand against Loyola Marymount (10-9-2) on Thursday, Sept. 23 and Cal State Bakersfield (8-7-2) on Wednesday, Sept. 29. Both matches start at 7 p.m. Loyola Marymount qualified for the 2009 NCAA tournament before bowing out during the first round against Sacramento State, 2-1.

Cal Poly, which matched a program record by registering six Big West victories in 2009, opens conference play at UC Riverside (1-16-1, 0-9-1) on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. The Mustangs, opening Big West play on the road for the fourth time in five seasons, have taken maximum points from UC Riverside during their last four meetings versus the Highlanders.

The Mustangs host Cal State Northridge (10-8-2, 5-4-1) on Wednesday Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. before visiting defending Big West Tournament champion UC Irvine (15-7-0, 6-4-0) on Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. UC Irvine, seeded No. 16 for 2009 NCAA Tournament before being vanquished by Stanford during the second round, eliminated Cal Poly in overtime during the semifinal stage of last year’s Big West Tournament, 2-1.

Cal Poly renews its central coast rivalry at UC Santa Barbara (17-5-2, 8-1-1) on Tuesday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Last year’s corresponding fixture at Harder Stadium – won by UC Santa Barbara, 1-0 – drew 5,842 supporters.

The Mustangs open a three-game homestand against UC Irvine on Saturday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. before hosting UC Davis (6-12-1, 3-6-1) on Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. Cal Poly closes the home set versus UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. In front of 9,824 supporters – the seventh-largest regular season crowd in NCAA history – the Mustangs and Gauchos battled to a scoreless draw at Spanos Stadium last season. Four of the top-10 regular season crowd figures in NCAA history have occurred in matches between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara and all have been set during the previous three seasons. Since the start of the 2007 campaign, 55,336 total spectators and an average of 7,905 fans per match have witnessed Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara clash on seven occasions.

Cal Poly, 21-4-3 at Spanos Stadium under Holocher, closes its scheduled home slate on Wednesday, Nov. 3 versus Cal State Fullerton (8-9-2, 4-5-1) at 7 p.m. The Mustangs cap the regular season with a 7 p.m. contest at Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Nov. 6.

“Our 2010 schedule is another tough set of matches that will challenge the program and hopefully prepare us for a run into the NCAA Tournament,” said Holocher, whose Mustangs also travel to UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 30. “We still have a young team, but a group that is more mature than last season in which nearly half of the team played as freshman. Many of these young players have developed and will be better prepared, especially for our early season matches leading up to the Big West schedule. Each team we play is of top quality and we must learn to approach each match with great focus and concentration.”

The top-four finishers in the Big West standings qualify for the conference tournament. Programs seeded No. 1 and 2 will host semifinal matches on Wednesday, Nov. 10 with the championship tilt scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 13.

The 2010 NCAA Tournament gets underway on Friday, Nov. 19.

Cal Poly will also contest two exhibitions, beginning with a 2 p.m. match at San Francisco (7-10-2) on Saturday, Aug. 21. The Mustangs will host Division III UC Santa Cruz (13-4-2) for their final tuneup on Saturday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. While the head coach at UC Santa Cruz (1999-05), Holocher compiled a 109-24-7 mark and helped the Banana Slugs reach the championship match of the 2004 Division III NCAA Tournament.

Tickets for all Cal Poly athletics contests can be purchased online at gopoly.com. Select the TICKETS link on the left side of the home page or call (805) 756-5806 or 1-866-GoStangs. The ticket office is located in front of Mott Gym on South Perimeter Road. Office hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Seating charts of Mott Gym and all Cal Poly athletics facilities are located at gopoly.com under the TICKETS link.