SAN LUIS OBISPO – Junior forward Tim White’s third-minute goal stood as the game-winning strike and freshman midfielder Chris Gaschen recorded his initial collegiate goals Wednesday evening as the Cal Poly men’s soccer team retained a share of first place atop the Big West Conference standings with a 3-0 victory against UC Riverside at Alex G. Spanos Stadium.

Junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain matched a career high with seven saves and recorded his fourth shutout of the season for Cal Poly (8-8-1, 6-2-0), which equaled a single-year program record with its sixth Big West win. Cal Poly, unbeaten in six-straight matches versus UC Riverside (1-13-1, 0-6-1), improved to 18 points in the Big West table to stay level with No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (12-3-1, 6-1-0), which downed Cal State Northridge earlier Wednesday, 2-0.

Cal Poly contests its penultimate regular season match Saturday at UC Davis at 1 p.m. while UC Santa Barbara travels to No. 19 UC Irvine (12-4-0, 5-2-0) for a 7 p.m. showdown. The Anteaters upped their second-place point total to 15 with a 4-1 romp past Cal State Fullerton.

White (above) notched his first goal since Sept. 18, 2007 and the only goal Cal Poly required two-and-a-half minutes from the start as he received a pass through the left side of the box from junior forward David Zamora and fired past UC Riverside goalkeeper Cody Suppé.

The Mustangs doubled their lead in the 44th minute as Gaschen – Cal Poly’s leader with four assists – received pass from senior forward Daniel Cumming and, on a single bounce, skipped a shot past UC Riverside reserve goalkeeper Ryan Schmitz.

“We had a great start with Tim’s goal that came after a nice series of passes. Our ball movement was great tonight, as well as our movement off the ball,” fourth-year Mustang head coach Paul Holocher said. “We also scored at the right times: after the start and right before the half.”

In the 53rd, a back pass by a Highlanders defender near the top right corner of the UC Riverside penalty area was misplayed by Suppé. Gaschen pounced on the errant ball and fired into an empty net.

“That was an effort goal from Chris,” Holocher added. “He chased down the ball and made something happen.”

The Mustangs, who improved to 21-3-2 all-time at Spanos Stadium and registered their 15th clean sheet at home, held UC Riverside without a shot attempt for the opening 22 minutes.