Cal Poly Takes Control of WCLL
PALO ALTO, Calif. -- In a game that would dictate the leadership in the regular season WCLL, No. 3 Cal Poly traveled to No. 11 Stanford for the answer. In the end, it would be Cal Poly taking the lead in the conference with a decisive 14-5 victory over the Cardinal.
In a game that showcased the balanced offense of Bobby Dabrieo’s squad, 11 different players recording points. It was the defense, however, that was once again the bright spot on a rainy day. Led by All-American candidates Sean Pihl (10 saves) and close defender Gideon Baum; the Cal Poly defense held the Stanford offense in check all day.
The Mustang defense is allowing less than six goals a game average this season. As part of this complete team performance, Austin Lord was dominant at the faceoff X, finishing with 12 wins in 14 chances and keeping the ball in the hands of the offense.
Offensively, the Mustangs were led by John Corbolotti (2g,3a); Andrew Laron (2g,1a); AJ Guralas (3g); Ben Berkow (1g,1a) and Patrick Schneider (1g,1g). Adding to the offense was a goal by long-stick middie Alex Erler in transition to help seal the Cal Poly victory.
“I'm proud of the way we played today," said Dabrieo. "We’ve been preaching patience and focus and it was nice to see that for four quarters. I think we wore down their stud midfielders by making them play defense for long periods of time and it didn’t allow them to get into a flow offensively. Lord was great at the faceoff X, Pihl made some great saves and Corbs did a great job leading the offense but this was a team effort that we can hopefully build off of going forward.”
The victory moves Cal Poly to 11-1 on the season and 6-0 in the WCLL and in sole possession of first place in league.
The Mustangs roll up their regular season with the final league game with Nevada at Cal Poly on Saturday April 23 at 3 p.m.