September 30, 2007

College Roundup
Poly wins Big West men’s soccer opener
Mustangs win on road 1-0 against Cal State Fullerton and improve to 6-1-0 overall

Paul Holocher’s Cal Poly men’s soccer team entered Big West Conference play Saturday night with five wins in its first six games —the best overall record in league.

But that “doesn’t mean anything” to the Mustangs’ head coach compared to what the team did Saturday. Cal Poly won 1-0 at Cal State Fullerton, the only goal coming from backup freshman midfielder Daniel Gray in the 50th minute.

“It’s such a great way to start (conference) for us,” Holocher said. “You’re on the road playing a tough opponent. Getting off on the right foot with a shutout is a great confidence builder for our team.”

Gray scored on a shot to the left post on an assist from Jeff Meyer Jr.

After posting seven shutouts last season, Cal Poly (6-1-0, 1-0-0 Big West) already has six this year. Goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco had three saves and played all 90 minutes for the Mustangs.

Cal Poly limited the Titans (4-4-0, 0-1-0) to three shots on goal, compared to six by the Mustangs.

“Defensively we played fantastic,” Holocher said. “Lots of energy and plays.”

The Mustangs visit UC Riverside at 3 p.m. Saturday before returning for a three-game home stand beginning with UC Irvine on Oct. 10.

Men’s Cross Country

• Dellinger Invitational: Cal Poly finished eighth at the Dellinger Invitational, as 2006 All-American Phillip Reid came in a disappointing 39th with a time of 24 minutes, 13 seconds on the 8K course.

Reid was the third runner to cross the finish line for the Mustangs, behind 13th-place Troy Swier (23:51) and 34th-place Evan Anderson (24:08).

The Mustangs’ 183 points came on an average time of 24:13 at the 15-team contest in Springfield, Ore.

Matt Johnsrud (24:24) took 47th and Joe Gatel (24:29) 50th, respectively, rounding out Cal Poly’s top five.

Host Oregon took first place with 54 points, a sizeable 19 ahead of runner-up Wisconsin, whose Matt Withrow took top individual honors at 23:20.

Women’s Cross Country

• Stanford Invitational: Kimberly Donatelli was the only top-50 finisher for Cal Poly, which finished 14th amongst 28 teams at Stanford’s 6K course.

The Mustangs, led by Donatelli’s 31st-place time of 21:54, had Bridie McCarey (22:23) and Kristen Sanzari (22:28) come in 56th and 61st, respectively.

Stanford, which won in team scoring with only 27 points, had Arianna Lambie pace all runners with a time of 19:48.

Cal Poly’s 343 points came in on an average time of 22:42.

Football

• Allan Hancock 48, East Los Angeles 7: Former Atascadero High quarterback Gunnar Jespersen snuck into the end zone on a 1-yard keeper as the Bulldogs (4-1, 3-0 Western State Conference) dominated the visiting Huskies.

Ex-Paso Robles High signal caller Greg Draper was dressed for the game and his knee injury suffered at West Los Angeles on Sept. 15 is not as serious as originally thought, Hancock coach Kris Dutra confirmed, adding that the team’s upcoming bye week will only help Draper’s recovery.

“I’d say he’s back for sure,” Dutra said. “If we had a game next week, he’d be right back in there.”

He would rejoin an offense that outgained East Los Angeles (0-5, 0-3 WSC) by more than 250 yards, with his next action coming Oct. 13 against Compton at Cabrillo High in Long Beach.

Women’s Water Polo

• Long Beach 9, Cuesta 5; Riverside 13, Cuesta 8: After losing to defending state champion Long Beach and undefeated Riverside, the Cougars took third at their own nine-team Mid-State Bank Tournament.

Ashley de Goede scored five goals and Whitney Levicki four on the day for Cuesta (10-4). Cougars goalkeeper Emily Millard had 17 saves in the two games.

“It was the first time we’ve faced someone that had the same physical abilities as us (this season),” Cuesta coach Pete Schuler said.

“... It was a very tough tournament. We beat Golden West and Sierra. Those are two big wins for us.”

Women’s Soccer

• Fresno 8, Cuesta 0: The Cougars (4-4-2) suffered their worst loss of the season on the road against what coach Bob Wilson said was “one of the best” teams he has seen since taking over in 1995.