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This Week: The Mustangs hit the road this week for the finale of the Big West Conference regular season. Cal Poly is coming off a 1-0 overtime win at Pacific this past Friday that saw Afton Thulin sore her first goal of the season. With the win Cal Poly improved to 6-1 in conference play and 12-5 overall. The Gauchos enter the game with a 5-1-1 conference record and post an 8-8-2 overall mark after defeating UC Daivs 4-1 on Friday and playing Pacific to a 0-0 draw on Sunday.

What’s at Stake, Winner Takes All: The Showdown with UC Santa Barbara will determine the Big West Conference No. 1 seed for the conference tournament. If the Mustangs either win or tie they will walk away as the regular season champion and earn the right to host the semifinal and final’s of the conference tournament. But, if the team falls to the Gauchos and Cal State Northridge defeats Long Beach State on Sunday, the Mustangs would fall to third and would be traveling for the tournament. The Matadors would hold the tie-breaker over the Mustangs due to their win earlier this season in Northridge... Cal Poly could finish in second if the team falls to UCSB and CS Northridge drops or ties its contest against the 49ers.

Upcoming: Following the game with the Following the game with the Tigers on Friday, Cal Poly will not return to the field until Sunday, Nov. 1 when the team travels to Central Coast Rival UC Santa Barbara. UCSB enters the week with 12 points and a 4-1-0 record in conference games and are 7-8-1 overall. UCSB has three conference games remaining and will travel to UC Davis on Oct. 23 and Pacific on Oct. 25 before returning home to host Cal Poly.

Quick Look at the Teams:
                                         CP       UCSB
Record                        12-5-0     8-8-2
BWC Record               6-1-0     5-1-1
Goals PPG                    1.4        1.3
Asst.PG                         1.0        1.4
SOG                               6.5        5.7
Goals Allowed Avg.    0.89      1.5
Saves PG                      6.5        3.8
Save Percentage       .880       .719

UC Santa Barbara: The Gauchos enter the game with the Mustangs with a 8-8-2 overall record and post a 5-1-1 mark in conference games. This past week UCSB dominated UC Davis with 14 shots, 10 on goal in a 4-1 on the road. Midfielder Katy Roby scored two of the Guacho goals in the win. On Sunday, UCSB played Pacific to a 0-0 draw with UOP firing up 21 shots, 12 on goal while UCSB could only manage eight shots, four on goal. Overall Kailyn Kugler leads the team with 23 points coming on nine goals and five assists. Jacqui Simon adds 10 points coming on three goals and four assists. The only other player on the team with three goals is Roby and 16 points. Tammy Lenham has played 12 game in net for the Gauchos and earned starts in 10. She has posted four shutouts and has a 7-2-1 record while in goal. Head coach Paul Stumpf is in his 11th year and posts a 107-84-26.

Some History with the Gauchos: The Mustangs hold a 9-6-3 advantage over UCSB in the all-time series. Last year the Gauchos won the regular season game 4-2 on Oct. 9 while prevailing on Nov. 9 at UCSB in the BWC tournament in penalty kicks. (1-1 draw)

Last Time Against the Gauchos: (Nov. 9, 2008) SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – For the second-consecutive year, Cal Poly saw its season come to an end on penalty kicks, as Gaucho junior Sarah Stoltz capped a 5-4 pk win to break a 1-1 tie before 409 fans at Harder Stadium. Junior Carrie Andrews scored the lone goal for the Mustangs to force overtime, but a miss on Cal Poly’s fifth penalty kick attempt by senior Ashley Vallis allowed Stoltz to win the game moments later for the Gauchos. The Mustangs best scoring chance in the first half came in the opening three minutes, as Morgan Miller corralled a loose ball in front of the Gaucho goal. The sophomore fired a shot on goal but Gaucho freshman goalkeeper Ali Cutler made a point-blank stop. The Gauchos first quality scoring attempt came in the 16th minute, as senior Sami Svrcek had a shot blocked by Mustang senior Leah Morales. A rebound header attempt by junior Genelle Ives was blocked as well as the Mustangs dodged the first Guacho bullets. UCSB’s freshman Alissa Sanchez was able to move down the right side of the field uncontested, and sent a high cross into the box. Ives was unmarked and was able to head the ball just before it went out of bounds, and the deflection moved past Hoover into the goal. Ives’ team-leading ninth goal of the season gave UC Santa Barbara a lead they would hold into the half. Cal Poly was awarded another corner and would capitalize. Junior Carissa Voegele played the ball to the top of the box and found Andrews, who took one dribble and then a shot into the right side of the goal. UC Santa Barbara had three shots in the final four minutes but Coral Hoover came up with all three saves and the game was sent to overtime.The Mustangs were kept without a shot in the first OT but Hoover came up with two saves to send action to a second extra session. Hoover came up with two more saves in the second overtime and Cal Poly’s only shot went wide, and the game had to be decided in a best-of-five penalty kick shootout. Sophomore Whitney Sisler took the first shot and put it in the left side of the goal. Gaucho sophomore Kailyn Kugler countered by beating Hoover to the left to even the shootout at one. The second round began with junior Kaleena Andruss tucking a shot inside the right post and was followed by Gaucho Jacqui Simon scoring to the right as well. Cal Poly went to freshman Mckenzie Orand, who had yet to play in the game, in the third round, and she delivered with a shot to the bottom right. The Gauchos countered with sophomore Erica Seidman, who also hadn’t played in the game, and she would also score into the right. Leah Morales and Cory Yoshida both scored in the fourth round, making the score 4-4 entering the fifth frame. Vallis was the final shooter for Cal Poly, and the Mustang’s leading scorer aimed her shot to the right. Cutler guessed correctly and dove that direction, getting a piece of the ball to deflect it wide. Stoltz then came on with a chance to win it for the Gachos and aimed right as well. Hoover also guessed correctly, but couldn’t get a hand on the ball as it slipped inside the right post to give UCSB the win.

Last Season vs. UC Santa Barbara : Oct. 19, 2009 SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Sophomore Kailyn Kugler scored twice in the first half and junior Genelle Ives scored twice in the second half as UC Santa Barbara topped Cal Poly, 4-2. Juniors Kristina Condon-Sherwood and Carrie Andrews scored for the Mustangs. In the 30th minute Kugler tried to split Mustang defenders Condon-Shwerwood and Carissa Voegele as she broke towards the goal and was taken down in the box. The sophomore was awarded a penalty kick, and beat Mustang goalkeeper Coral Hoover to the bottom left corner to give the Gauchos a 1-0 lead. The teams would trade shots until the 43rd minute when Kugler struck again. A failed Mustang clearing attempt forced Hoover to come out and try to steal the ball from Ives to the left of the goal. Hoover slipped and Ives sent a feed to the top of the goal mouth to Kugler, who fired into the empty net to stake the visitors to a 2-0 lead. Cal Poly did find the back of the net in 54th minute, again coming off a cross. Voegele sent the kick into the goal box and a scramble for the ball ensued. Morales was able to tap the ball to the top of penalty box to Condon-Sherwood, who blasted a shot into the bottom-left corner of the goal to cut the Mustang’s deficit in half. The Mustangs attempted furiously to gain the equalizer but couldn’t get many quality attempts on goal, and in the 74th minute it was the Gauchos who added a score. Senior Sami Svrcek lofted a high pass from 40 yards out on the right side of the field, and the feed took a high hop toward the Mustang goal. The ball bounced over Hoover and on to Ives, who headed the ball into the vacant Mustang net to make the score 3-1. Just 1:40 later, Santa Barbara would strike again. Sophomore Jacqui Simon sent a nifty pass on to Ives at the top of the box, and the Gaucho’s leading scorer beat Hoover to the bottom-right corner for her eighth goal of the season. Ives scored her third goal in the last two games as she gave UC Santa Barbara a 4-1 lead. The Mustangs got one goal back in the 82nd minute, as Andrews headed in a corner kick from Condon-Sherwood for her second goal of the season. The three-goal deficit proved too much for the Mustangs to overcome, however, as the Gauchos held on to record a 4-2 victory.

at Pacific: STOCKTON, Calif. – A goal by Afton Thulin in the 99th minute propelled the Cal Poly Mustangs to a 1-0 overtime win over Pacific in a Big West Conference women’s soccer game Friday night. Thulin’s first goal of the season eight minutes and eight seconds into the first overtime period and came unassisted after Whitney Sisler’s shot was blocked. Thulin picked up the deflected ball and fired the winning goal into an undefended net. Mustang goalie Coral Hoover picked up her ninth shutout of the season and her fifth in a row, making six saves. In the second half the teams traded shots over the next 20 minutes with nothing to show. The intensity of play picked up in the 77th minute when Condon-Sherwood was whistled for a yellow card while UOP’s Kylee Choy was also called for a yellow card in the 81st minute. The Mustangs made a solid push late in the half when Bria Park took a shot backed up by a shot on goal in the 89th minute by Burright whose shot went wide. A Pacific header by Wong off the cross bar in the 95th minute coming off a corner kick was the Tigers’ best scoring opportunity of the game. Overall Cal Poly was outshot 24-13 while each team had six shots on goal.

Mustangs Receiving Votes: The Mustangs for the first time this season are receiving votes in the NSCAA Poll for the week of Oct. 27. Stanford, Cal Poly’s first opponent of the season has swept all 32 first place votes while other Cal Poly opponents who have appeared in the top-25 have dropped out. California was ranked as high as 7th in the nation while Utah was receiving votes when the Mustangs played the Utes.

Make that Five in a Row: For Coral Hoover and the Cal Poly Mustangs it was the team’s fifth shutout in a row and the ninth overall.

Note: Earlier in the season Hoover and the team ran up four in a row Air Force (1-0), Colorado College (1-0), No. 7 California (1-0) and Arizona (3-0)....

Note: The last Cal Poly team to record four straight shutouts prior to this season was in 2003... when the team tallied six straight entering the NCAA Tournament and early in the same season, winning five in a row by shutout.

Hoover Remains Sixth in the Nation: Coral Hoover remains sixth in the national ranking’s with a .913 save percentage but she has moved up to 28th in GGA with .631..... as a team, Cal Poly is 12 in the nation with a 0.88 save percentage.

12, Most wins since 2003: Cal Poly’s 12 wins this season is the most the team has had since the 2003 season when the team was 18-2-2 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament and lost in the first round to Arizona State. It so happens it was also the last team to record six consecutive shutouts.

Thulin Makes it Count: Sophomore Atton Thulin scored her first goal of the season in the overtime win at Pacific... it was the only one that mattered as the Mustangs prevailed 1-0...

You Can Do it... So Can I.... : On Thursday night freshman Cici Kobinski became the team leader with her fourth goal of the season in the win over UC Davis.... Well.... Sophomore Tiffany Gummow matched her for the team lead when she scored the game winner over Long Beach State on Sunday... both lead the team with four goals this year...

Sharing the Love: Cal Poly has scored 24 goals this season .... Coming from 12 different players... Kobinski and Gummow lead the team with four while Morgan Miller, and Julianne Grinstead each have three... five players have one...

Mustang Shots: Cal Poly has taken 195 shots this season, putting 110 on goal... that’s at 56 percent while opponents have taken 298 shots and 125 have been on goal.. 42 percent.

Breakdown by Class: On the Mustangs 2009 roster their are six seniors listed.... five juniors and eight sophomores... but the big number falls on the freshman ...15....

Hoover, Top Drawer POW: Coral Hoover was named Top Drawer Soccer.com’s female player of the week for her two shutout victories over Pac-10 schools. “Hoover earned a pair of shutout wins as the Mustangs surprised a pair of PAC 10 opponents, including previous top 5 side California.“

Crozier Reaches 200: With the Mustangs 1-0 defeat of Cal State Northridge on October 12, 2008, head coach Alex Crozier was successful in his first attempt at reaching the 200-win plateau. Now in his 18th season, Crozier is the all-time coaching wins leader in Big West Women’s Soccer history and has been named the conference’s Coach of the Year four times. He also became just the 32nd coach in NCAA women’s soccer history to reach 200 wins (minimum 10 years coaching at Division-I). Entering Friday’s opener, Crozier’s record stands at 202-105-34.

Preseason Big West Polls: The Cal Poly women’s soccer team has been selected by the Big West Conference coaches to finish third in the 2009 standings. The Mustangs earned 65 points and a first-place nod. Coach Alex Crozier’s Mustangs finished 10-9-1 overall and in third place in Big West play in 2008. Cal Poly also welcomes back a quartet of all-conference honorable mention members in Morgan Miller, Kristina Condon-Sherwood, Carissa Voegele and Coral Hoover. The UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer team was selected to win the 2009 Big West championship in a vote of the nine coaches. The Gauchos claimed five first-place votes and 75 points to capture the favorite’s role. Three-time defending Big West regular season champion Long Beach State accumulated 67 points for second place. The 49ers received two first-place tallies. After Cal Poly was Pacific with 53 points and one first-place vote. Cal State Northridge followed in fifth with 33 points and Cal State Fullerton was sixth (32). Rounding out the poll were UC Irvine with 31 points, UC Davis with 28 and UC Riverside with 21.