The UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer team had their Blue-Green Rivalry match against California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s Mustangs on Sunday, Oct. 18. This match resulted in a 1-0 shutout win for the Gauchos — not only was this the Gauchos seventh shutout performance this season, but also a satisfying redemption after tying 0-0 at home in their last matchup with the Mustangs in September. 

In the first half, UCSB dominated possession of the ball, controlling the flow of the game. When not in possession of the ball, the Gauchos defense did well to keep it out of harm’s way. UCSB did not wait much longer to get the ball to the back of the net because in the 13th minute, graduate defender Haruki Utsumi did just that. The scoring play started with a short corner kick to senior midfielder Eddie Villeda, finding the space to send a cross over to Utsumi, who met the ball at the near post and shot the ball into the back corner of the net. This put UCSB up over Cal Poly 1-0. UCSB continued to dominate possession until the halftime whistle; the score remained 1-0 at half.

In the second half, the Mustangs had adjusted to the pressure of the match and took control of the ball. This resulted in many more opportunities for Cal Poly, putting a lot of pressure on the Gauchos graduate goalkeeper Luke Skinner. Skinner proved he was up for the task by making key defensive plays, stepping out to punch the ball away multiple times and making an impressive close range save at the 87th minute in order to stop the Mustangs from equalizing. 

The Gauchos’ defenders — including junior defender Drew Kamienski, sophomore defender Calle Mollerberg and Utsumi — all did well to maintain the lead in this match with many stops in the final minutes of the second half. The defense prevailed with the final score being 1-0 in favor of UCSB. Cal Poly totaled 14 shots, with 7 of those shots being blocked by the defense and 2 of them being saved by Skinner.

The Gauchos will host UC Irvine for their senior night on Oct. 25 at Harder Stadium.