Two Cal State Fullerton own goals combined with junior midfielder Angel De Leon’s third strike of the season helped fire the Cal Poly men’s soccer program to its first Big West Conference victory of the year as the Mustangs topped the Titans on Wednesday inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium, 3-1.
Sophomore goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado recorded four saves for Cal Poly (5-6-1, 1-2-0), which outshot Cal State Fullerton (8-5-1, 0-3-0), 18-7. With the victory, Cal Poly improved to three points in the Big West standings and moved into a three-way tie for fifth place in the table alongside UC Riverside (6-6-2, 1-2-0) and CSUN (6-6-1, 1-20).
Cal Poly concludes its two-match home stand against CSUN on Sunday, Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.
Cal Poly forced Cal State Fullerton goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin into three saves before receiving the game’s opening goal from the Titans. Cal State Fullerton defender Clayton Torr played a back pass to Guerin in the 21st minute, but the ball slipped under Guerin’s boot and rolled over the Titans goal line at the left post to hand the Mustangs a 1-0 advantage.
Cal Poly then needed just two additional minutes to double its lead with junior midfielder Emmanuel Perez playing a pass to the left post for De Leon, who tapped his third goal of 2019 into the back of the Titans net.
Arce-Hurtado chalked up his four saves during Wednesday’s opening 34 minutes to keep the Titans scoreless before Cal State Fullerton broke through 10 minutes before the break with midfielder Sebastian Cruz hitting his hitting his second of the season from 20 yards.
Cal Poly reaffirmed its two-goal advantage through Cal State Fullerton’s second own goal 13 minutes into the second half. De Leon kickstarted the sequence by centering a pass for Perez, who saw his shot attempted thwarted by a diving Guerin. The deflected save, however, ricocheted off Titans defender Jose Delgado and into the back of the net to cement Cal Poly’s final margin of victory.
-Provided Cal Poly
