'Dogs travel to Cal Poly for first exhibition match

Wednesday, August 11

San Luis Obispo, CA

6 P.M. PT

Fresno State

Cal Poly (EX)

Photo by: Keith Kountz

'Dogs travel to Cal Poly for first exhibition match

8/10/2021 8:56:00 PM | Women's Soccer

By: Josh Mitchell / Assistant Director of Strategic Communications

FRESNO, Calif. – With seven days of practice thus far, which included two intrasquad scrimmages, Fresno State will face its first opponent of the fall on Wednesday when the Bulldogs head down to San Luis Obispo for a Wednesday evening matchup with Cal Poly at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Game Info
Date: Wednesday, Aug. 11
Time: 6 p.m. PT
Where: Alex G. Spanos Stadium (San Luis Obispo, Calif.)

Live stats and video will not be available. For game updates, follow Fresno State's Twitter page (@fresnostatewsoc).

Bulldogs at a glance

Fresno State brought back 15 players from a team that finished 6-3-1 during the spring in a Mountain West-only shortened season. Eight played in all 10 games while another five made appearances in nine games.
The 19 points Fresno State earned was second-most in the West Division and third-most overall in the Mountain West. It was their second-highest finish since joining the conference.
Of the 15 returners, all three of Fresno State's All-MW First Team selections will be back on the pitch (Kassandra Ceja, Robyn McCarthy, Lorena Montanes).
Fresno State brings 11 new faces into the fold this season. Kansas transfer Chais Wright has been with the team since the winter while Fresno City College transfer Megan Galvan joined the squad during the summer along with a nine-member freshman class.

Scouting the Mustangs

Cal Poly has not played a regular season contest since Nov. 3, 2019 after the Big West canceled the 2020 soccer season.
The Mustangs opened camp the same day as the 'Dogs but have an exhibition under the belts, defeating NAIA opponent Westmont 4-0 on Saturday.
Cal Poly returns eight starters and 21 letterwinners from its 2019 squad.

We've done this before
Though the Bulldogs and Mustangs haven't met during the regular season since 2015, the two sides have met in a pair of exhibitions. Fresno State won the most recent match, 2-0, on its home field in 2019. The game was not a standard two 45-minute halves as the teams opted to play three 30-minute periods instead.

Current Bulldogs Lorena Montanes, Mariona Segales, Shantay Tamez, Robyn McCarthy, Bailee Kern and Valentina Vivas all started in that game. Sheyenne Hodge, Jordan Brown, and Brianna O'Dell also featured.

Defending champs headed to Fresno
Following Wednesday's match, the Bulldogs will host Santa Clara on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT at the Fresno State Soccer Stadium. It will be the Broncos first game since winning the 2020 NCAA Women's College Cup on May 17, 2021. Santa Clara is ranked No. 2 in the United Soccer Coaches preseason poll.

It will be the second time since 2018 that Fresno State has played a defending national champion during the preseason. The 'Dogs traveled to No. 1 Stanford before opening the 2018 campaign.
Santa Clara will be the first top-five team to play in Fresno since No. 4 UCLA traveled to the Central Valley during the 2012 regular season.

Two exhibitions and then it begins
Following exhibition matches against Cal Poly (Aug. 11) and No. 2 Santa Clara (Aug. 14), Fresno State will open the 2021 season on Aug. 19 against Oregon in Eugene, Ore.

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