SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team begins the final two weeks of the regular season with a massive matchup in San Luis Obispo on Sunday, October 15, as the Gauchos will travel to Cal Poly for the second leg of the 2023 Blue-Green Rivalry. UC Santa Barbara won the first matchup of the season, 2-0, at Harder Stadium.
 
Following their match against the Mustangs, the Gauchos will return to Santa Barbara and celebrate Senior Night on Wednesday, October 18 against Sacramento State.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos and Mustangs will square off at 5 p.m. Sunday evening from Mustang Memorial Field in San Luis Obispo. Fans planning to travel to the match are advised to arrive early. Those not making the trip can follow from afar by watching the broadcast on ESPN+ and with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
UC Santa Barbara will host Sacramento State at Harder Stadium on Wednesday, with kickoff set for 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara saw their recent unbeaten streak snapped on Wednesday night after a late Cal State Bakersfield goal gave the visiting Roadrunners a 1-0 win. It was the Gauchos' first home defeat in nearly two months.
 
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS (7-6-1, 2-2-1 Big West)
Since UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly last met, the Gauchos have gone 2-2-1 to open Big West play, including a couple of firsts on the season. UC Santa Barbara recorded their first and only tie of the season on September 30 against UC Irvine, and the Gauchos were four minutes away from a second 0-0 draw before Cal State Bakersfield scored a late winner in their last match.
 
More importantly for Sunday's fixture, the Gauchos earned a first road win of the season on October 4, defeating UC Davis, 2-1, at UC Davis Health Stadium. Freshman winger Kavi Krishnan recorded his first career assist in that game. The Gauchos carry a strong road record into Sunday's clash with the Mustangs, having not lost in San Luis Obispo since 2018.
 
UC Santa Barbara's leading scorer this season, Nemo Philipp, returned from a hamstring injury last Saturday against UC Riverside and made his first start since September against Cal State Bakersfield. He played limited minutes in both fixtures while regaining full fitness. Salvador Aguilar owns the two most recent goals for UC Santa Barbara, scoring both against UC Riverside.
 
SCOUTING THE MUSTANGS (4-5-3, 2-1-2 Big West)
Since Cal Poly last played UC Santa Barbara, they have earned a pair of wins, a pair of draws and lost only once in conference plays, leapfrogging the Gauchos to take third place in The Big West standings.
 
The Mustangs are unbeaten in their last four matches, with wins over CSUN and UC San Diego sandwiched between draws against UC Riverside and Sacramento State.
The hardest part of The Big West schedule is to come for the Mustangs, who have yet to face first-place Cal State Fullerton, second-place Cal State Bakersfield and two of the four teams tied for fourth, UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine.
 
Speaking of fours, that is the number of goals Cal Poly's joint leading scorers Luke Schaefer and Jackson Kestler have on the season. Kestler came the closest to scoring against the Gauchos in the first meeting this season but was denied by Leroy Zeller. Schaefer scored twice against UC San Diego last weekend, and Kestler scored once.
 
SCOUTING THE HORNETS (3-7-4, 0-1-4 Big West)
Sacramento State is one of two teams still winless in Big West play but has only one loss, drawing four of their five conference contests so far. The Hornets are 0-5-4 in their last nine matches, having not recorded a win since September 7 against Pacific. They will face conference leading No. 13 Cal State Fullerton at home on Saturday before traveling to face the Gauchos.
 
In junior Mac Learned, Sacramento State has one of the best goalkeepers in the country, and he has been busy. Learned leads Division I with 75 saves on the season, a rate of 5.77 saves per game. However, he has allowed the third-most goals in the conference and has only three clean sheets on the season.
 
A lack of offense certainly doesn't help; the Hornets have scored just two goals in their five Big West matches, the lowest total in conference play so far. Sacramento State has been held scoreless in three of their last four and has not scored multiple goals in a match since September 14. The bright spot in attack has been senior forward Austin Wehner, who has four goals and four assists through 14 games, both team highs.