Women's Soccer Drops 3-1 Decision To Cal Poly

Sunday, October 20

San Luis Obispo, CA

12:00 pm

UC Riverside

Cal Poly

Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta

Women's Soccer Drops 3-1 Decision To Cal Poly

10/20/2013 2:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

San Luis Obispo, CA—Two of the top teams in the Big West Conference squared off against one another Sunday afternoon as the second-place Highlanders traveled to first place Cal Poly, but it was the Mustangs picking up a 3-1 victory, solidifying their hold on the top spot in the conference (Box Score Coming Soon).

Entering the match, Cal Poly (9-7-0, 5-1-0) held a one-game lead over UC Riverside (6-10-1, 3-3-0), UC Santa Barbara (9-6-1, 3-2-0) and UC Irvine (8-6-0, 3-2-0). The Gauchos match, slated for 6 pm Sunday, had yet to start at press time.

The Highlanders and Mustangs each took three shots on goal during the first 45 minutes of action, but each of Cal Poly's shots found their mark as they took a 3-0 lead.

Megan Abutin netted her fourth goal of the season to put the Mustangs on the board in the 32nd minute, while Kendra Bonsall scored her second goal of the year less than a minute later, and Elise Kreighoff closed out the first-half scoring with her nation-leading 18th goal with 5:40 to go before the break.

The Highlanders tightened up their defense coming out of the locker room, keeping the back of their net clean throughout the entire second half. Sammy Arellano put a spark into the team's offense, scoring her third goal of the season with just 4:57 gone in the second.

Despite outshooting the Mustangs 10-4 over the final 45 minutes, that was all the offense UC Riverside could muster.

The top four teams make the Big West Women's Soccer Tournament, and the Highlanders have two more conference matches remaining on their regular season schedule—vs. UC Davis at home on Thursday, October 24 (7 pm), and at Long Beach State on Sunday, November 3 (2 pm). UC Riverside also has one more non-conference match on its 2013 docket—a Friday, November 1 home match against Montana at 7 pm.

2013 Big West Women's Soccer Standings (through Oct. 20, 2013, 2 pm)
Team	W	L	T	Pts
Cal Poly	5	1	0	15
UC Santa Barbara *	3	2	0	9
UC Irvine	3	2	0	9
UC Riverside	3	3	0	9
Long Beach State *	2	1	1	7
Hawai'i *	2	3	0	6
Cal State Fullerton *	1	2	1	4
UC Davis **	0	2	1	1
Cal State Northridge **	0	3	1	1
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* Hawai'i at Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Fullerton begin at 6 pm PT Sunday ** Cal State Northridge at UC Davis began at 1 pm PT and was scoreless at the half.