It took me three days to write this report, but not for any of the reasons you may be expecting. It wasn't that I was sulking about in defeat, avoiding the inevitable report, or that I was on such a high from beating the #4 team in the US. No, instead it took me three days because I simply did not have enough material from the match to write a worthy report. An unfortunate truth about the sport of soccer is simply that sometimes games are uninteresting, boring draws. This was one of those cases.

In a raucous environment of just under 10,000 screaming fans (#4 in terms of all-time soccer attendances in the USA), the match just didn't meet up to the expected intensity indicated by the crowd. This immense soccer rivalry, debateably the best in the nation, was lacking in all aspects of the game.

I will give the squads their credit, Santa Barbara, knowing a draw gave them the Big West title outright, seemed perfectly content to sit back in an uninviting environment and grind out the draw, rather than tarnish their #4 ranking. They were incredibly efficient in this regard, though their storied attacking force was drab and uncreative.

Poly, on the other hand, seemed taken aback by the defensive nature the Gauchos came out with. It seemed almost like they were planning to play counter-attacking football, but when the other team doesn't attack, it is very difficult to counter. The Poly defense held very strong though, and Poly goalkeeper McClain had very little to worry about around his goal.

The best opportunity went to the Mustangs, who fired a shot off near the end of the first half that took a deflection, but the Gaucho's keeper did very well to adjust to the flight of the ball and collect rather tamely. The fact that the match was limited to one good opportunity versus a few should be a huge indicator about the nature of the contest.

In the end, the Gauchos got the point they needed, while Cal Poly can claim some sort of moral victory, getting a deserved draw against one of the top teams in the nation.

Other Notes:

- The new Manglers shirts were out in full force, doing Constantly Offside very proud.

- There was even a lack of controversy in this one, no Tortillas, no handles of vodka, not even a surplus of yellow cards or penalty claims...

- They need to try and schedule this matchup on a weekend again... If we can get 10,000 on a Wednesday just imagine the crowd we can draw on a Saturday...