SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Four first half goals from UC Santa Barbara goals proved to be insurmountable for the Utah Valley men's soccer team, as the Wolverines fell to the Gauchos 5-1 on Sunday night. The Wolverines played the final 58 minutes of the match down a man after Nate Mefford was shown a straight red card in the 32nd minute. 

The Gauchos got off to a fast start, with two goals inside the opening eight minutes. Henry Davies headed home UCSB's first in the seventh minute off a cross from Nemo Philipp. An unlucky bounce off a couple Wolverine defenders resulted in an own goal in the eighth minute. 

Diego Castillo had a good look at goal in the 18th minute when his shot took a deflection, forcing UCSB keeper Leroy Zeller to use all of his vertical to swat the ball away from goal. 

UCSB added a third in the 23rd minute off the foot of Finn Ballard-McBride. The Gauchos seemed poised to add a fourth in the 32nd minute, but Mefford pulled down UCSB attacker who was through on goal, resulting in him being shown a straight red card. 

Rigoberto Barragan volleyed home the Gauchos' fourth in the 41st minute. The initial shot by Salvador Aguilar was saved by Jason Smith, but the rebound was fired home by Barragan from about 15 yards out. 

Despite being a man down, the Wolverines came out in the second half and put sustained pressure on the Gauchos' defense. Carter Johnson broke away on a counterattack in the 51st minute, taking the ball box to box before laying it off to Diego Castillo, whose shot was parried away for a corner. 

Mark Andros scored his third goal in as many games in the 57th minute, curling the ball past Zeller just inside the left post. 

Philipp re-extended the lead back to four in the 78th minute when his cross snuck inside the far post.

The Wolverines will close out non-conference play with a trip to take on the Santa Clara Broncos on Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. MDT and will be broadcast on the WCC Network.