The Boot Stays in SLO Town
(9 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
Loading ...
By Marc Lea
(Photo Credit: David Flannery)
True to form for these long-time rivals, Thursday night’s game between Cal Poly and Chico State was a back and forth battle, with neither team going up by more than two goals at any point in the hard fought contest. In the end, Cal Poly emerged from the season opener with a 7-5 victory, keeping the Boot in San Luis Obispo for another year.
The key for the Mustangs was a solid performance at the face-off X, and the break-out performance of a handful of underclassmen. The Cal Poly face-off tandem of freshman Matt Rudow and sophomore David Dudek frustrated the Wildcats throughout the game, earning a 2-1 advantage on the draws and helping the Mustangs’ control the possession time.
The Wildcat defense played valiantly in a losing effort, running hard-charging slide packages and recovering quickly enough to limit the Mustangs’ offensive chances. Even when the Wildcats’ did allow a decent look at the cage, goalkeeper Austin Raab held strong, corralling all but the most well placed Mustang shots.
Cal Poly came out of the blocks quickly, scoring two goals midway through the first quarter, but the Chico State defense clamped down, allowing just one goal the rest of the half. The Wildcats kept the Mustangs’ leading scorer, Seth Kweller, in check; each time the speedy attackman made a move to the cage, Wildcat defenders swarmed and forced Cal Poly to search for other scoring options.
Early in the third quarter, while already holding a 4-3 lead, Chico had a chance to seize control of the game. A three-minute illegal stick penalty on a Mustang long-stick middie handed the Wildcats a golden opportunity, but despite a couple of broken Mustang clears that kept the ball on Chico’s offensive end, the Wildcats couldn’t crack the goal.
After holding Chico’s EMO unit scoreless, Cal Poly took the momentum but still couldn’t reclaim the lead. Despite dominating possession time, the Mustangs found themselves down 5-4 a few minutes into the fourth quarter. Mustangs’ head coach Aaron Myers credited his young team for maintaining their composure. “The team showed a lot of resolve. They never stopped believing in themselves and never doubted that we were going to find a way to win this game.”
With Chico focusing on Kweller, sophomore attackman Andrew Haviland stepped up for the Mustangs. Haviland, who finished with 2 goals and 2 assists, drove the left wing and put one over Raab’s shoulder to tie the game with ten minutes remaining.
After Haviland’s goal knotted the score at 5-5, the Mustangs took charge of the Battle for the Boot. Relying on Dudek and Rudow to gain possession, the Mustangs controlled the ball the rest of the way, putting in the game’s final two goals and securing the victory.
It was a disappointing end for the Chico State Wildcats, who are trying to claw their way back into national prominence, and an important season opening victory for Cal Poly, who have a grueling schedule ahead of them and can’t afford to let any winnable games get away.
