Cal Poly loses to Portland...

Presumably, the last two games of the soccer season were supposed to be very important and, also, presumably, the team plays very well at home (I vaguely recall reading "stellar home record" somewhere). Now, granted, the game was quite entertaining, with three lead changes and three ties, and the final score 4:3 in favor of Portland...

But it did not seem like Cal Poly was playing its best soccer. In fact, it seemed quite the opposite. With the caveat that my experience of watching soccer is limited to World Cup and my son's soccer league games, I submit the following:

• Defense got systematically outhustled by Portland's offense. In fact, the first goal Portland scored was a result of a break on defense (right wing).
  
• Decision-making was not the best. The last goal scored was a result of the goalie clipping the ball on a goal kick to go short in the vicinity of a one-on-one on the left wing. Once the Cal Poly defender was outhustled (see above), the goal was almost inevitable.
  
• Gaps in midfield. For stretches, the transition game was surrendered.
  
• Offense, sporadically was good, and punishing. The first two goals punished Portland for their mistakes on defense. The second goal, in fact, was the most spectacular. However, lack of middle-of-the-field presense meant that Cal Poly could not mount a real sustaining pressure.
  

Argh.