MORAGA, Calif. - On Sunday, August 25th, Saint Mary's concluded their two-game homestand taking on Big West member Cal Poly. The Mustangs wanted to play big and long but the Gaels offense would knife through Cal Poly's defense and senior forward
Wade Muttitt would get the scoring started with a strike from distance for his first of the season. In the 27th minute, fellow senior forward
Jude Zamora would double the Gaels lead with an impressive left-footed strike of his own to help Saint Mary's to the eventual 2-0 win, the team's first of the year at Saint Mary's Stadium.
FIRST HALF SMC 2-0 CP
Cal Poly made it very clear early on that they wanted to play long and be physical with their second road game of the season. Saint Mary's matched their energy from the start and took it one step farther with an electric strike from
Wade Muttitt to give the Gaels a 1-0 lead just inside ten minutes.
Justin Sosa helped win a 50/50 ball in the Mustangs half and then slipped Muttitt in niceley who drove with great pace and decisiveness at the backline. After a few touches, Muttitt let a right-footed shot go that struck the left post and bounced into the back of the net for his first goal of the season and the 10th of his Gaels career.
In the 28th minute, Washington native
Jude Zamora wasted no time making his impact felt as he got subbed on and doubled the Gaels lead within a minute. Zamora cashed in on another Cal Poly turnover in their own half, collecting the loose ball and dribbling his way into a left-footed shot that found the top left corner of the net. His stunner would go down as his first of the season and third of his Gaels career.
FINAL SMC 2-0 CP
Cal Poly would put together some nice pressure in the second half. They went on to outshoot Saint Mary's 5-4 in the second half and 10-7 in the game. The Mustangs had their best chance on goal in the 65th minute off a free kick just outside the left edge of the 18-yard box. The right-footed attempt would curl in dangerously to the back post but freshman keeper
Sam Bentley stepped up with a fantastic acrobatic save to push it over the bar and preserve the clean sheet.
Joining the Gaels from Hertfordshire, England, Bentley got his first collegiate start today and came up with three crucial saves to earn his first career shutout.
Fynn Allmon,
Nick Strangio and
Bastian Toelhoej anchored the Gaels backline to earn their first clean sheet of the season and wing backs
Luke Lawrence and
Ian Smith also played all 90 minutes to help shutdown the Mustangs offense. Muttitt led all players with four total shots on the night as Saint Mary's put together their best offensive performance thus far to pick up their first win of the season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's evens their record at 1-1 on the season. They will look to build off their momentum after their two goal victory over Cal Poly and take on fifth ranked Stanford on September 1st at 5:00 PM. Live stream, stat and ticket links can all be found at smcgaels.com. Be sure to follow your Gaels on Facebook, Instagram, and X to get all the latest Saint Mary's athletics updates and information.
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