SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Luis Silva’s first half goal was all seventh-ranked UC Santa Barbara
needed to defeat Big West Conference rival Cal Poly on Wednesday in front of a home crowd
of 5,842 at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium.

The win is the Gauchos’ third straight at home and third consecutive shutout. UCSB improves
to 8-2-1 overall and to 2-0-0 in the Big West. Cal Poly drops to 4-7-0 overall and to 2-1-0
in conference action.

The lone goal came in the 30th minute of the game when sophomore midfielder Michael
Tetteh fed classmate Luis Silva the ball at the top of the box. Silva fired the ball to the left
corner of Cal Poly’s goal for the score.

The action had gotten started early in the game as UCSB took four shots in the first eight
minutes of the game. Cal Poly got its first scoring opportunity with six minutes on the clock
when David Zamora took a shot as goalkeeper Sam Hayden came out of the goal. The ball hit
the top post and dropped fortuitously clear of the goal to keep the Mustangs off the
scoreboard.

The Gauchos nearly scored just seconds later when sophomore midfielder Danny Barrera
drove a shot that was cleared off the Mustang’s goal line by Patrick Sigler.

Cal Poly managed just two more shots during the first half as the Gauchos out-shot their
opponent 14-3 during the period.

The second half was more evenly fought with the Gauchos edging Cal Poly, 8-5 in shots.

Cal Poly had another great chance at a goal in the 74th minute when Chris Gaschen took a
thru ball behind the Gaucho defense and fired an arching line drive towards the goal, but
Hayden blocked it near the right near post for one of his five saves during the half.

The Gauchos tied their season-high of 22 shots in the victory ¬¬– they previously had 22
against Wisconsin on Sept. 20. Senior forward David Walker led all players with five shots –
two coming on goal. Silva’s goal came on one of his three shots-on-goal; it marked his third
score of the season. Tetteh’s helper was his fourth of the season.

In the goal, Hayden posted his sixth shutout of the season and is now just one away from
breaking into the Gauchos’ single season top-10. The Mustangs’ goalkeeper, and reigning
Big West Player of the Week, Patrick McLain tallied seven saves in the loss.

UCSB will continue Big West action on Saturday when they head to UC Riverside for a 7 pm
pairing with the Highlanders.