Sunday’s shutout was Cal Poly’s sixth of the season. The Mustangs also improved their home unbeaten streak (2-0-5) to seven, their longest home unbeaten streak since a nine-match stretch spanning the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
In the 37th minute, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shannon Porubski turned away the Titans’ only shot on goal of the match, reaching up with her fist to poke a blistering shot by Kayalily Penn from distance over the top of the net. The fantastic save allowed the match to remain scoreless at halftime.
After controlling the entire first half, Cal Poly finally got on the board in the 52nd minute thanks to an incredible individual effort by Smith. The Scottsdale, Arizona native picked up the ball just past midfield, dribbled forward and sliced her way through three Cal State Fullerton defenders before blasting a shot from about 25 yards out to the bottom left corner of the net.
Clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Mustangs continued to stay on the front foot and their persistence paid off with just under 10 minutes remaining in the match. Freshman Farra Franklin fed a pass to Smith just inside the 18-yard box and the star forward took a touch and then fired a shot with her right foot to the back of the net for her second goal of the match. The goal sealed the victory for the Mustangs.
“It felt super great,” Smith said about her performance, “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. We just had a major response from our last game, so I’m super proud of us and excited for the next.”
The two goals give Smith seven on the season, tied with teammate Jessie Halladay for the most in the Big West. Smith also currently leads the conference in points this year with 17 (seven goals, three assists). The assist by Franklin was the first of her collegiate career.
“Annika is the big dog,” Silva said. “She’s somebody who exemplifies chasing excellence, exemplifies grind, exemplifies team first. Annika adding two more goals to her tally … is a byproduct of everything else that she does.”
Porubski secured her fifth clean sheet of the season and Cal Poly finished with a 12-3 shot advantage in the match.
Seniors Sophia Minnite and Brennan Cole, redshirt sophomore Siena Urzua, sophomore Ava Mirelez, freshman Sam Walker and Franklin all never stepped off the pitch in the match.
“These are three big points and we’ll take them, and we’ll keep fighting for the next ones,” Silva said.
Cal Poly hits the road this coming week for a pair of matches in Southern California, taking on Long Beach State at 6 p.m. on Thursday and UC Irvine at 1 p.m. next Sunday.