SAN LUIS OBISPO – Junior goalkeeper Wade Hamilton chalked up four saves to increase his conference-leading total to 74, but the Cal Poly men’s soccer program lost its grip on first place in the Big West North Division standings Wednesday evening with a 1-0 defeat to UC Davis inside Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Junior midfielder Joseph Bolous paced Cal Poly (8-4-3, 3-2-1) with three shots, but the Mustangs produced a season-low two attempts on target during the 90 minutes. With the loss, Cal Poly remained on 10 points in the Big West North Division and slipped into a tie with UC Santa Barbara (7-6-2, 3-2-1), which defeated Sacramento State earlier Wednesday, 4-1.

The Mustangs and Gauchos will meet in the opening leg of the 2014 Blue-Green rivalry series inside UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. with action televised live on Fox PRIME TICKET.

UC Davis (6-1-8, 4-1-1), meanwhile, grabbed sole possession of first place on 13 points after outshooting Cal Poly, 18-12.

“I think we played well tonight and I think we played Cal Poly soccer. We played attractively, we created chances and we played our way,” interim head coach Phil Ruskin said. “We have young players playing a lot of minutes and some guys playing out of position, but that’s only going to help us going forward.”

Cal Poly enjoyed Wednesday’s first scoring opportunity with sophomore Justin Dhillon dragging a shot wide of the right post in the opening minute. On 23 minutes, junior midfielder Chase Minter lashed a 25-yard free kick that was turned away by UC Davis sophomore goalkeeper Armando Quezada and, in the 34th, Dhillon sent a close-range shot over the Aggie crossbar.

At the other end of Spanos Stadium, Hamilton kept the match stalemated by recording his two first-half saves 38 seconds apart.

“You expect a goalkeeper to make some big saves each game and Wade continues to make the saves we expect him to make,” Ruskin added. “I can’t reiterate enough how fortunate we are to have someone who is as prepared and willing to sacrifice himself as Wade. We feel we have a chance to win every game with Wade in goal.”

Into the second half, Hamilton produced another save in the 61st before UC Davis broke through three minutes later. It was senior forward Matt Sheldon who earned the game winner, taking a feed from freshman midfielder Noah Wilson near the left post and squeezing an attempt past Hamilton.

Cal Poly’s best chances to equalize came in the 67th, with freshman forward Kaba Alkebulan heading over the crossbar, and in the 73rd, with freshman winger Ramiro Molina-Valerio forcing a save from Quezada.

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