April 20, 2021 at 10:05 pm by Jacob Davis
Siavash Ghadiri / Daily Nexus
UC Santa Barbara continued their seven-game spring exhibition with a home game against the Cal Poly Mustangs for another iteration of the Blue-Green rivalry. The Gauchos came out on top with two late goals for a 2-1 win that brought a spark of life to what started out as a slow contest.
The Gauchos started their first home game since the 2019 season off strong with multiple shots from senior forward Ameyawu Muntari and junior midfielder Thaabit Baartman within the first 10 minutes of play. The Gauchos dominated possession and kept most of the play on the Cal Poly side in the first half, aside from a number of counters from the Mustangs. The first shot on goal for the Gauchos came from right-back Rigoberto Barragan with a bent, left-foot shot outside the 18-yard box met relatively comfortably with a diving save from the Cal Poly keeper.