Cal Poly Hosts UC Santa Barbara Saturday with First Place on the Line

Saturday, October 16

San Luis Obispo, CA

7 P.M.

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Hosts UC Santa Barbara Saturday with First Place on the Line

10/15/2021 11:03:00 AM | Men's Soccer

BEST ATTENDED REGULAR SEASON MATCHES IN NCAA HISTORY

PLEASE NOTE: For fans attending Cal Poly's Saturday, Oct. 16 home game versus UC Santa Barbara, a vaccination card or negative COVID test will be required for entrance into Alex G. Spanos Stadium. If you have already purchased tickets for the match and cannot comply with the COVID policies, please contact Cal Poly's ticket office at 805-756-4849.

Gates will open at 5 p.m. for the 7 p.m. match versus UC Santa Barbara. Fans are urged to arrive early with the anticipation of longer than usual entrance. Cal Poly's Clear Bag Policy for football games will be enforced for the match.

SAN LUIS OBISPO – With a capacity crowd of 11,075 fans expected at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, the Cal Poly men's soccer program looks to regain a share of first place atop the Big West Conference standings when hosting Blue-Green rival UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Oct. 16. Kickoff time is 7 p.m. for Cal Poly (5-5-2, 3-1-1), which moved to second place in the standings on 10 points having won three of its last four matches – including a 2-0 home victory versus Cal State Fullerton (Oct. 13) – and conceding just two goals in five Big West games. UC Santa Barbara (8-3-3, 4-0-1), meanwhile, leads the Big West with 13 points. Four programs, led by joint third place UC Riverside (8-5-0, 3-2-0) and CSU Bakersfield (4-7-1, 3-2-0), sit within three points of second place Cal Poly. With four matches remaining in the regular season, the top six programs in the 10-team standings qualify for the Big West Tournament (Nov. 3, 6 and 13). Cal Poly enters Saturday's matchup having allowed just one goal in the last 382 minutes while ranking 38th among 202 NCAA Division I programs with just 11 goals allowed. Having scored 32 times – 19 more than Cal Poly – UC Santa Barbara ranks sixth nationally in scoring. The lone unbeaten Big West program, UC Santa Barbara edged Cal Poly in the non-conference meeting between the two sides at Harder Stadium, 2-0 (Sept. 25).

FOLLOW CAL POLY THIS WEEK: Zachary Anderson-Yoxsimer provides play-by-play for Saturday's game against UC Santa Barbara for GoPoly.com HERE … live stats and streaming video of both games will also available HERE.

CAL POLY VERSUS UC SANTA BARBARA: Cal Poly has defeated UC Santa Barbara at home in three of the last five meetings, but dropped the last matchup at Spanos Stadium, 2-0 (Nov. 2, 2019). Unbeaten against UC Santa Barbara in 10 of the last 17 overall matchups, Cal Poly looks to snap a three-game slide versus the Gauchos after dropping the Sept. 25 non-conference game and both 2019 meetings. Cal Poly's last victory against UC Santa Barbara was a 1-0 home triumph (Sept. 30, 2018). In 11 matchups versus UC Santa Barbara under seventh-year head coach Steve Sampson, Cal Poly maintains a 3-5-3 record. UC Santa Barbara also leads the Division I series, 25-19-8.

CENTRAL COAST SERIES A TIGHTLY CONTESTED AFFAIR: Twenty of the last 29 matches between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara have been decided by one goal or drawn. Seven of Cal Poly's eight victories in the last 29 attempts against UC Santa Barbara have been a one-goal triumph. Eleven of those 29 matches since 2007 have gone to overtime. Just four times since 2007 has one side scored as many as three goals against the other (Cal Poly's 4-1 home victory versus the Gauchos to close 2017 marked the first time since Nov. 9, 2001 that one team had slipped four goals past the other). The Mustangs are undefeated at home against the Gauchos in eight of the last 11 years while UC Santa Barbara has lost exactly once at home to Cal Poly in the last 23 matchups at Harder Stadium.

CAL POLY-UC SANTA BARBARA MATCHUP REMAINS THE CENTRAL COAST TOP SPORTING ATTRACTION: The best-attended sporting events annually in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties, the Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara series has drawn 25 of the top 61 regular season crowd figures in NCAA history with all matches occurring since 2007. The matchup inside Spanos Stadium has sold out all 11,075 seats for the past nine seasons – a figure that marks the 14th largest regular season crowd figure in NCAA history. The 17 combined matches between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara during the last nine years are 17 of the 19 highest attended collegiate soccer games in the United States, outranking all but the two matches from the 2019 College Cup semifinals. Since the start of the 2007 season, 281,293 total spectators and an average of 9,700 fans per match have witnessed Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara clash on 29 occasions.

SET TO BOYAL: Four of senior Neil Boyal's five assists have helped fuel Cal Poly victories with the midfielder leading the Big West and now ranked 40th among NCAA Division I players. A 2020 transfer from Louisville, Boyal set up both of Cal Poly's goals (11 minutes apart) during the program's 2-1, come-from-behind victory at Saint Mary's (Aug. 30) before providing assists in Cal Poly's 3-0 win against San Francisco (Sept. 6), 3-2 overtime loss to No. 25 Grand Canyon (Sept. 16) and 1-0 home victory versus CSUN (Oct. 3). Boyal also scored his first Cal Poly goal against Grand Canyon as the Mustangs scored twice in the final three minutes to force overtime. One of four Mustangs to start all 12 games, Boyal ranks second among Cal Poly's outfield players with 92.3 minutes played per outing.

ARCE-HURTADO SHINES IN GOAL: Having conceded just 10 goals from open play through 12 matches and just one in his last 382 minutes, junior goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado ranks second among Big West players with four shutouts and a 0.88 goals against average. With a season high five saves in Cal Poly's Aug. 27 opener at Santa Clara, Arce-Hurtado recorded his first shutout of the year in Cal Poly's 3-0 home win against San Francisco (Sept. 6) before recording successive clean sheets in 1-0 victories versus CSUN (Oct. 3) and UC San Diego (Oct. 6) and 2-0 triumph against Cal state Fullerton (Oct. 13). Through 29 collegiate appearances, Arce-Hurtado – a two-time Big West Defensive Player of the Week selection this season – ranks third in program history with a 1.06 career goals against average.

FIRST IN GLASS: Now with two game-winning goals following his 68th-minute strike in a 1-0 home victory against CSUN (Oct. 3), freshman defender Jacob Glass ranks eighth among Big West players with four goals while also leading Cal Poly in shots (13) and shots on goal (six). After his 76th-minute goal marked the winning margin in a 2-1 victory at Saint Mary's (Aug. 30), Glass scored in a 3-0 home win against San Francisco (Sept. 3) before scoring in the 87th minute to help Cal Poly force overtime versus No. 25 Grand Canyon (Sept. 16). A starter in all 12 matches, Glass has helped the Mustangs to four shutouts this year. Alongside junior goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado, Glass is one of two Mustangs to play all 1,127 minutes this year and averages 93.9 minutes per game.

PEREZ BACK ON THE SCORESHEET: Cal Poly's leading returning scorer this season after producing nine goals in 2019, senior forward and co-captain Emmanuel Perez's two goals have come in the program's last five matches. After scoring in a 1-1, Big West-opening draw at Sacramento State (Sept. 29), Perez found the 73rd-minute game-winner versus UC San Diego (Oct. 6). With 14 career goals, Perez requires just one more to reach ninth place in program history.

FRESHMEN IN THE FOLD: Nine of Cal Poly's 13 goals this season have been scored by freshmen. Following defender Jacob Glass (four), defender Conner Leber has scored twice in wins against Saint Mary's (Aug. 30) and San Francisco (Sept. 6) while forward Max Kleinhammes scored against San Diego State to force a 1-1 home draw (Sept. 3). Midfielder Nathan Colley and defender Ori Bitton became Cal Poly's latest freshman goalscorers when finding the back of the Cal State Fullerton net in a 2-0 victory (Oct. 13).

THE COMPANY YOU KEEP: Four of Cal Poly's opening seven matchups came against programs either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll (at time of match). Among Cal Poly's early results, the Mustangs produced a 2-1 victory at Saint Mary's (receiving votes) on Aug. 30 and drew San Diego State (receiving votes) on Sept. 3.

ETC.: Cal Poly's 2-1 victory at Saint Mary's (Aug. 30) marked Cal Poly head coach Steve Sampson's 100th collegiate victory. Sampson, who finished 64-19-19 with Santa Clara (1986-90), owns 36 victories with the Mustangs and a now 100-62-31 career collegiate mark.