SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly senior midfielder Daniel Cumming’s 77th-minute strike following a pass from sophomore central defender Patrick Sigler broke a 1-1 stalemate and propelled the Mustang men’s soccer team to a 2-1 victory against San Jose State Sunday afternoon at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Cal Poly (2-4-0), winners of consecutive matches after throttling Sacramento State, 4-0, on Friday evening, took a 1-0 advantage in the 13th minute. After Mustang sophomore midfielder Jacob Hustedt was scythed down in the box by Spartan senior defender Oscar Monjares, junior forward David Zamora converted Cal Poly’s second penalty in as many chances this season.

Six minutes later, Mustang freshman goalkeeper Brett Finkelstein was yellow carded for a foul on a Spartan attacker inside the box. Monjares converted the resulting penalty to level the scoreline.

Deadlocked for nearly an hour and with the Mustangs playing a man up due to a 66th-minute red card issued to Monjares, Sigler – one of 38 collegians named to the Hermann Trophy Watch List – found Cumming five yards from goal to earn his first assist of the season.

“At halftime we made changes and talked about stretching San Jose State and improving our passing. Our legs were a little bit heavy from Friday’s match and our movement wasn’t what it could be, but sometimes to win games you have to grind it out and that’s what we did today,” said fourth-year Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher, whose Mustangs improved to 17-3-3 at Spanos Stadium since the venue’s 2007 opening.

Cal Poly was whistled offside on four occasions, including an apparent headed goal from Zamora in the second minute of action. The Mustangs, who received a match-high four shots from Zamora and a further three from Hustedt, outshot San Jose State during the second half, 10-4.

“When the score was 1-1, I thought we took more of an initiative,” Holocher said. “The result was that Dan Cumming came up with a big goal for us.”

Cal Poly completes its pre-Big West Conference schedule at the Sept. 25 and 27 Husky Fever Classic, hosted by Washington. The Mustangs open the competition Friday against Portland at 4:30 p.m.