UCSB, Cal Poly play to scoreless draw
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Junior goalkeeper Carlos Arce-Hurtado recorded a pair of saves to earn his fifth shutout of the season Saturday evening, but, in front of 10,899 fans – the 24th-largest regular season crowd in NCAA history – the Cal Poly men's soccer program's Blue-Green rivalry matchup versus UC Santa Barbara finished in a scoreless draw.
Cal Poly entered play with the opportunity to move into first place in the Big West Conference standings alongside UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos (8-3-4, 4-0-2), however, retained first place with 14 points while Cal Poly (5-5-3, 3-1-2) stayed in second on 11 with UC Irvine (5-7-3, 3-1-2).
Saturday's attendance figure of 10,899 fans marked the largest NCAA soccer crowd in two seasons and ranked as the largest since Cal Poly produced a sellout of 11,075 fans for a Nov. 2, 2019 home game against UC Santa Barbara.
Sixteen of the top 62 (25.8 percent) best-attended regular season matches in the history of collegiate soccer have occurred at Stadium and all have been recorded since the start of the 2007 season.
With each team recording 10 shot attempts, UC Santa Barbara produced the game's first save on 12 minutes with Arce-Hurtado turning away Gaucho forward Thaabit Baartman.
The Mustangs forced UC Santa Barbara goalkeeper Leroy Zeller into two first-half saves with forward Drew Patterson stopped in the 25th and fellow freshman Nathan Colley 10 seconds from halftime.
Arce-Hurtado thwarted Baartman once more in the 84th before UC Santa Barbara enjoyed its best scoring chance in the 95th minute before Mustang freshman defender Jacob Glass headed away an attempt from Finn Ballard McBride on the goal line to preserve a scoreless match.
Cal Poly returns to action at UC Riverside on Wednesday, Oct. 20. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the Highlanders trailing the Mustangs by one point in the Big West standings.
Article courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics
