RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Cal Poly men’s soccer midfielders George Malki and Matt LaGrassa each found the back of the UC Riverside net on Sunday afternoon, but the 24th-ranked Highlanders twice erased one-goal deficits and, keyed by a 91st-minute strike from sophomore forward Otis Earle, topped the Mustangs at UCR Soccer Stadium, 3-2.

Sophomore goalkeeper Chase Hauser registered seven saves for Cal Poly (6-4-0, 1-1-0), which held the advantage at the seven- and 40-minute marks before seeing each lead evaporate. Earle, who placed four of his match-leading five shot attempts on target, capitalized on the first attacking sequence of the overtime period.

Cal Poly opened the scoring in the seventh minute with senior midfielder Chris Gaschen driving down the left side of the field before picking out Malki, who fired his second goal of 2012 past UC Riverside freshman goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi from five yards away. The Highlanders, however, needed all of 44 seconds to equalize as junior defender Hayden Leslie headed a corner kick from freshman midfielder Eric Gonzalez past Hauser.

The Mustangs accumulated six additional shot attempts during the ensuing 31 minutes before reasserting the lead through LaGrassa, who received a cross from freshman outside back Kip Colvey before scoring from three yards out.

UC Riverside though, found a second equalizer in the 52nd minute as senior defender Jose Diaz headed down a Leslie throw-in that senior forward Jimmy Martinez slotted past Hauser.

Cal Poly fired off six more shot attempts the remainder of the afternoon and junior forward Chris Bernardi and Gaschen forced Khosravi into saves in the 63rd and 82nd minutes, respectively. The Mustangs, however, failed to get out in front a third time.

In the overtime period, UC Riverside sophomore midfielder Juan Mendoza set up the game-winning strike by sliding a pass from the middle of the turf on to Earle, who bested Hauser in a one-on-one situation.

Sunday’s match marked Cal Poly’s first overtime contest of the season and first since producing a scoreless draw at Cal State Northridge on Oct. 29, 2011.

Winners of six of their last eight contests, the Mustangs return to the central coast to open a two-match home stand at Alex G. Spanos Stadium on Friday, Oct. 5 versus Cal State Northridge. Match time is set for 7 p.m.