By james art SAN LUIS OBISPO – After scoring the opening goal in the Cal Poly men’s soccer program’s 1-1 home tie with UC Irvine (Oct. 23) to keep the Mustangs in contention for the conference regular season title, midfielder Quinn Mahoney earned his first career Big West Monday Freshman of the Week honor.
Cal Poly’s leader this season with four goals, Mahoney’s fourth-minute try against UC Irvine gave the Mustangs an early lead before the Anteaters got the equalizer in the second half. Cal Poly also drew an Oct. 26 matchup at CSUN to enter the home regular-season finale on Nov. 2, Saturday against Cal State Bakersfield in third place in the Big West standings along with UC Irvine.
With 13 points each, Cal Poly and UC Irvine trail Big West leader UC Santa Barbara by just two points and second-place Cal State Bakersfield by one heading into Saturday’s final round of games.
A Cal Poly win against Cal State Bakersfield combined with a loss at UC Irvine or a tie at UC San Diego gives the Mustangs no worse than the top two seeds for the Nov. 6, 9 and 15 Big West Championship and a bye to the semifinals.
Also leading Cal Poly with four assists, Mahoney ranks second among Big West players with 43 shot attempts.