Cal Poly women’s soccer looking forward after season of highs and lows

The Cal Poly women’s soccer team had two very different halves to its season.

The first month of regular season play saw the Mustangs go toe to toe in their opening game with then No. 18 Cal in a 1-0 loss and rattle off three consecutive wins. Their luck changed when Big West Conference play began.

Nineteen of Cal Poly’s 33 players are underclassmen, and it showed during conference play, where they compiled at 1-5-3 record. Five of the Mustang’s six wins came during the regular season, all at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, where Cal Poly had a 5-2-2 record.

“I think in the last three or four years, our conference has become very competitive. From top to bottom there isn’t much difference. It’s just little moments in games that make a big difference,” four-time Big West Coach of the Year recipient Alex Crozier said. “We had success as far as wins early on, and then we would get in the conference, and it’s the little things that made the difference.”

The little things translated during the last seven games Big West Conference play in the form of an 11-to-3 goal differential. In the final month of play, the Mustangs went 0-2-5 to close out the season.

Part of Cal Poly’s scoring struggles could be attributed to the loss to graduation of striker Elise Krieghoff, who holds the school record for goals (52). The absence of Krieghoff allowed defenses to key on sophomore Caitlyn Kreutz — who had more points last season as a freshman (15) than Krieghoff (13).

Although the Mustangs struggled at times to find the back of the net, five of the top six points leaders (goals and assists) for the year were underclassman, including freshman Jessica Johnson (7), sophomore Stephanie Magellan (6), sophomore Chelsea Barry (5), sophomore Kelly Kessloff (5) and Kreutz (11).

Injuries also plagued the Mustangs early on in the season. The team suffered the loss of both senior midfielder Megan Abutin and sophomore forward Michaela Olney, each to ACL injuries. Abutin, who scored three goals during the 2015 season and was ranked ninth nationally in assists with 12 in 2014, tore her ACL during team’s first game against Cal. Olney was injured shortly after.

“Hopefully we’ll have those two back — maybe towards the end of spring for some light training,” Crozier said. “One of our freshmen, Georgina Stiegler, came in with an injury, so she redshirted and will be able to play next season. So those three I’m looking forward to seeing them play again.”

Youth will be a key component of next season, too. Cal Poly will lose 10 seniors to graduation and will have to lean on freshman again to be competitive in conference play.

For now, Crozier said that the team is focused on preparing for winter training beginning in January for the 2017 season.

“It’s one of those things where with the group that we have now we’ll start developing a culture with them in January that they can bring the new freshman into when they show up. Every team is a little different,” Crozier said. “We’ll work with a lot of the basic concepts in winter and spring. Whether freshman play a little or a lot is up to them.”

STRIKERS

Former All-Big West Freshman first-teamer Kreutz was named to the All-Big West Conference second team and Johnson earned All-Big West Freshman honors. Kreutz started in 17 of the Mustang’s 19 games, ending the season with four goals and three assists. Johnson scored two goals and earned three assists in 17 matches.

The connection between Kreutz and Johnson will be even stronger next season — coupled with the return of Abutin in the midfield — and could help end the Mustangs’ scoring drought.

MIDFIELD

Two of the Mustangs’ 10 seniors were essential cogs in the midfield. Nicole Wheeler and Cassandra Fäsi played in 16 and 13 games, respectively, and their experience will be sorely missed.

Luckily for the Mustangs, they won’t have a complete lack of senior leadership in the midfield once Abutin returns from injury.

DEFENSE

The Mustangs will lose to graduation Kendra Bonsall, who also earned an all-conference second-team nod along with fellow defender Chelsea Barry. Bonsall had two goals and an assist in her final season and started 18 of 19 games. Bonsall finished her career having played 70 games, including 60 starts, tying the record with former All-American Brooke Flamson for the 19th most in school history.

Barry proved to be a threat out of the back on set pieces and long shots, recording three assists, 21 shots and a wonder-goal off a set piece against Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara. The goal was named the TopDrawerSoccer.com National Collegiate Goal of the Week award on Oct. 19 . Barry played all but nine minutes on the season.

GOALKEEPER

Following the loss of the school saves leader Alyssa Giannetti — who recently concluded her professional rookie year in Norway — freshman Sophia Brown proved to be a capable replacement. The CIF Farmers Insurance Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2015-16 at Foothill High School started all 19 games and closed the season with a Big West-leading 92 saves — and three shutouts.

“We go into the season with no preconceived notions, and as we’re training we can tell what players are confident with what player,” Crozier said. “It got to the point where we played better when (Brown) was in goal. So that’s how we started with that. She did a really good job with that and I think that the goalkeepers that weren’t playing did a good job pushing her.”

The Mustangs will lose 10 seniors to graduation. The senior class combined to win 42 games, qualified for three Big West tournaments and earned 25 Dean’s List honors.

This story was originally published December 13, 2016 at 1:38 PM with the headline "Cal Poly women’s soccer looking forward after season of highs and lows."