SAN LUIS OBISPO – UC Santa Barbara midfielder Nick DePuy scored twice inside the opening 22 minutes Sunday evening and the Cal Poly men’s soccer program – despite outshooting the Gauchos in front of the 12th-largest regular season attendance figure in NCAA history – fell in the Blue-Green rivalry matchup at Alex G. Spanos Stadium, 2-0.

Junior midfielder Matt LaGrassa produced a match-leading four shot attempts for Cal Poly (8-6-4, 3-4-2), which outshot Big West Conference North Division leader UC Santa Barbara (9-6-3, 5-2-2) 13-12, limited the Gauchos to just three shots on goal and played the final 18 minutes a man up following a second yellow card to UCSB forward Armand Bagramyan. LaGrassa, however, failed to convert an 86th-minute penalty as Cal Poly lost at home to UC Santa Barbara for the first time since 2008.

With the loss, Cal Poly stayed in fourth place in the Big West North Division standings on 11 points, two behind third-place Sacramento State (6-9-3, 4-4-1). The Mustangs close the regular season with a 2 p.m. match at second-place UC Davis (6-3-9, 4-3-2), which enters the contest with 14 points. The Mustangs must defeat the Aggies to have a chance of qualifying for the Nov. 8, 12 and 15 Big West Tournament.

Sunday’s sellout crowd of 11,075 fans matched capacity crowds at Spanos Stadium for Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara matchups in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.

In a match that sold out every seat 54 hours in advance of kickoff, UC Santa Barbara needed just six minutes to notch the winning goal with forward Ludwig Ahl bringing down a loose ball outside the Cal Poly penalty area and flicking on to DePuy, who buried his first goal of the evening from 15 yards and toward the right post.

“It’s sometimes difficult to play at home in front of that many people and give up an early goal,” interim head coach Phil Ruskin said. “It took the crowd out of it a little, but at the same time we still had 85 minutes to play. Giving up an early goal was disappointing, but there was still plenty of game left.”

DePuy then found goal No. 2 on 22 minutes with a header past Cal Poly junior goalkeeper Wade Hamilton from 10 yards. Ahl once again contributed the assist, whipping in a cross from the left.

Held without a shot attempt for the opening 30 minutes, Cal Poly enjoyed its first attacking sequence of Sunday’s match in the 36th with sophomore winger Justin Dhillon forcing the first of Gaucho goalkeeper Brandon Berke’s three saves.

Outshooting the Gauchos in the second half 11-5, Cal Poly saw forward Kaba Alkebulan force another save from Berke in the 53rd before the Mustang freshman headed over the crossbar in the 69th.

In the 77th, LaGrassa latched on to a loose ball in the penalty area and fired past Berke only to see the goal called back for a foul on the goalkeeper.

Nine minutes later, UC Santa Barbara was whistled for a foul after Dhillon went down inside the Gaucho penalty area. LaGrassa, however, saw his penalty attempt saved by a diving Berke, who went to his left to parry the shot wide.

“Obviously the red card impacted the game, but the reality is that we’ve continued to do the same things we have all year,” Ruskin added “It just took us until the second half to do them.”

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