The Mustangs weren’t supposed to be in this position.
After being predicted to finish ninth out of 10 teams in the Big West, Cal Poly Men’s Soccer heads into their final conference matchup against CSU Bakersfield with their season on the line. If the Mustangs win or draw, they move on to the Big West Tournament while starting at times four true freshman.
But if the team loses, the Roadrunners will surpass them for the final spot in the playoffs, and Head Coach Oige Kennedy’s first season will come to a close.
Heading into the season, one of the goals Kennedy established is the team wanted to be playing for something in the final game of the season.
“We targeted the Bakersfield game to make sure we were going into that game with something on the line,” Kennedy said. “We’ve done it on our own accord. It hasn’t been on the back of other results.”
A lot of the turnaround can be attributed to the defense. Last season, the team conceded 18 during just nine conference matches.
Looking at this season, if the goals conceded in their first three games of the season are removed (Oral Roberts, San Diego State and San Diego) the Mustangs have allowed just 10 goals on the season since.
Kennedy points to graduate defender Emory Rapaport for helping lead the transition.
“Emory’s experience at the back, his cool headedness, helping us build through teams has been huge,” Kennedy said.
A team-oriented offense
While the defense has taken a massive step up, so has the offense.
It has been an all-team effort as the Mustangs doubled their assist total from last season to 22 this year.
“We’re all working as one big unit,” junior forward Jackson Kestler said. “We’re not working as individuals.”
Kestler and freshman midfielder Rylan Firouznam both have three assists in conference play, to go along with the three goals between them.
“Jackson has led from the front,” Kennedy said. “He’s been really consistent in how hard he’s worked in every game. He sets the tone for how we want to go about and push a team.”
Now the focus turns towards Bakersfield, the stakes high on both sides and with people to prove wrong.
“You look at Bakersfield, they’ve done an amazing job this year as well. They were picked to be there right behind us,” Kennedy said with a chuckle. “We’re both going to go into the game Saturday with a chip on our shoulder wanting to prove everybody wrong.”
At the beginning of the 2023 soccer season, Big West coaches tabbed Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield as the bottom two teams in the conference.
Now, the two will play a do-or-die game for a spot in the conference tournament on Saturday.
Kennedy knows that there is no fancy scenario where Cal Poly gets handed a playoff berth. Getting in or not is solely based on the merits of the team.
“Our destiny is in our own hands.”
And this is exactly where the Mustangs wanted to be.