Box Score Santa Barbara, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team traveled up the coast Thursday evening to take on the top team in the Big West North Division, UC Santa Barbara, but the Gauchos picked up a pair of late second-half goals to beat the Highlanders, 2-0.

The play was even in the first half with UC Riverside (5-6-1, 1-2-0) leading the Gauchos (8-3-1, 3-0-0) in shots on goal, 3-2. Defense ruled out, however, as the match remained scoreless heading into intermission.

The conference's leading scorer, UC Santa Barbara's Nick DePuy, broke the tie in the 70th minute. The junior stole a back pass to one of the Highlanders corner defenders, and although UC Riverside goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi got a glove on the ball, DePuy's shot found its way into the back of the net to put UC Santa Barbara on top.

Just over seven minutes later, as UCR looked for the equalizer, Geoffrey Acheampong doubled up the Gauchos advantage beating Khosravi to the far post.

The Highlanders remain on the road this weekend as they head to Cal Poly for a 7 pm PT kick of Saturday against the Mustangs.