The Cal Poly men’s soccer team (4-7, 2-1 Big West) dropped a 1-0 decision to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday at Harder Stadium.
The Gauchos (8-2-1, 2-0) who moved into first place in the Big West with the win, got a 29th minute goal from Luis Silva for the only score of the match.
The Mustangs weren’t without their chances. Junior forward David Zamora had a shot hit the post late in the first half that would have tied the match.
5,842 people attended the match, a relatively sparse crowd compared to the nearly 10,000 who watched the match last year in Santa Barbara and less than half as many attendees as the 11,075 who packed into Alex G. Spanos Stadium last year, making it the third-highest attended regular season soccer match in collegiate history.
The Central Coast rivals continued their chippy play as seven players were carded, including four Gauchos. Several players were forced to avoid flying tortillas that had crude messages written on them.
UC Santa Barbara outshot the Mustangs 22-8 overall and 9-5 in shots on goal.
Cal Poly junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain had seven saves for Cal Poly. The Mustangs return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday when they finish their non-conference schedule with a road match at Cal State Bakersfield.
For a full recap of the match, read Mustang Daily’s online-only Friday edition at www.mustangdaily.net.