Cal Poly Falls Saturday at UC Santa Barbara on Second-Half Goals

Saturday, September 25

Santa Barbara, CA

7 P.M.

2-4-1, 0-0-0

UC Santa Barbara

4-3-2, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Cal Poly	0	0	0
UC Santa Barbara	0	2	2

Photo by: Owen Main | Cal Poly Athletics

Cal Poly Falls Saturday at UC Santa Barbara on Second-Half Goals

9/25/2021 9:25:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SANTA BARBARA – UC Santa Barbara forward Finn Ballard McBride scored twice five minutes apart in the second half Saturday evening as the Cal Poly men's soccer program, in front of 8,000 fans – the 38th largest regular season crowd figure in NCAA history – fell to the Blue-Green rival Gauchos at Harder Stadium, 2-0.

Junior goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado (above) finished with two saves for Cal Poly (2-4-1), which was outshot by UC Santa Barbara (4-3-2), 14-5.

Saturday's 8,000-fan attendance figure also marked the largest regular season NCAA crowd since UC Santa Barbara visited Cal Poly on Nov. 2, 2019 (11,075).

Saturday's game was scheduled as a non-conference match between the two Big West sides. This season's Big West match is set for Saturday, Oct. 16 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Cal Poly opens its nine-match Big West schedule on Wednesday, Sept. 29 at Sacramento State. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

Cal Poly placed two of its three first-half shots on target with freshman defender Conner Leber forcing UC Santa Barbara goalkeeper Leroy Zeller into an eighth-minute save before junior forward Max Kleinhammes was turned away in the 18th.

Into the second half, Mustang senior forward Emmanuel Perez saw a 54th-minute attempt stopped, driven in front of goal and gloved away by Zeller.

UC Santa Barbara had been kept without an attempt on target until forward Thaabit Baartman was stopped by Arce-Hurtado in the 62nd minute. Arce-Hurtado then recorded another save just 27 seconds later, foiling forward Ameyawu Muntari's breakaway effort.

The Gauchos, however, eventually produced the winning strike in the 65th as a cross from defender Jorge Aldana found McBride's head at the left post.

McBride doubled the margin five minutes later, taking a Muntari feed and scoring past Arce-Hurtado at the left post.