Cal Poly men’s soccer team hoping to recapture Blue-Green Rivalry magic
When Steve Sampson signed on to coach the Cal Poly men’s soccer team two years ago, he brought with him a decorated professional resume that is perhaps unrivaled at the collegiate level.
Sampson has helped guide teams to an NCAA championship, an MLS Cup and he coached both the United States and Costa Rican men’s national teams. Even on the biggest international stages, Sampson never experienced anything quite like last year’s Blue-Green Rivalry.
The Mustangs and UC Santa Barbara have developed what is widely considered the most exciting rivalry in college soccer, with both schools selling out their stadiums for each head-to-head matchup.
Alex G. Spanos Stadium was filled to capacity last October when Kody Wakasa headed home the game-winning goal in the 104th minute, propelling Cal Poly to a thrilling 3-2 win over the Gauchos. Moments later, more than 11,000 fans and students rushed the field to cap off Sampson’s first victory in the heated Central Coast rivalry.
“As a professional coach and an international coach,” Sampson said, “you don’t get to experience 12,000 people coming onto the field and enjoying the celebration.
“That was really special for me.”
The following week, a crowd of 14,919 fans showed up for the second installment of the Blue-Green Rivalry at Harder Stadium, which marked the fifth-highest attended regular season game in NCAA history. Cal Poly earned a 2-2 draw that night and went on to make its first NCAA Tournament appearance in seven years.
Fast forward to a 7 p.m. Saturday kickoff, and the Mustangs are fighting for every point they can get in the Big West Conference standings. After beating UC Davis on Wednesday night, Cal Poly is 3-7-2 overall and 1-3-1 against conference opponents.
UC Santa Barbara (7-5-2, 3-0-2 Big West) is in control of the North Division with 11 points, followed by Sacramento State (seven points), UC Davis (six) and the Mustangs (four). And with only five matches remaining on Cal Poly’s schedule before the start of the Big West Conference Tournament — two of them against the Gauchos — every point is precious.
“We just really want to do what we did last year and come away with a win at home,” senior forward Justin Dhillon said. “That would be really incredible to give back to our fans. Just to show this whole program that we’re still in this and show the whole conference that we’re someone still to be reckoned with.”
Dhillon has been the Mustangs’ offensive catalyst all season. He has scored seven of the team’s 10 goals and assisted on two others. Wakasa, freshman Kenneth Higgins and sophomore Jared Pressley are the only other Cal Poly players to find the back of the net in 12 games this fall.
The high-scoring Gauchos have three of the top five goal-scorers in the conference on their roster. Junior midfield Kevin Feucht, a native of Germany, leads the Big West in goals (eight) and points (18). He’s taken some of the pressure off of two-time Big West Offensive Player of the Year Nick DePuy, considered to be one of the elite scorers in the country.
DePuy has generated a conference-best 46 shots and scored five times. It’s somewhat of a statistical regression from DePuy’s dominant junior season in which he scored 15 goals and led the nation with eight game-winners.
“Every year they put out and exceptional team,” Wakasa said. “It doesn’t matter how they’re doing. It doesn’t matter how we’re doing. When it comes to this game, both teams are going to be playing at their very best.”
This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 1:14 PM with the headline "Cal Poly men’s soccer team hoping to recapture Blue-Green Rivalry magic."