Cal Poly remained a rock in the cleats of the Hawaii soccer team, which missed an opportunity to clinch its first Big West regular-season championship in a 3-1 loss to the Mustangs in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Thursday.

UH (10-7-1, 6-1-1 Big West) was ambushed at Spanos Stadium and outplayed by the ninth-place Mustangs, and saw its program-record unbeaten streak of nine matches come to an end.

However, the Rainbow Wahine remained atop the conference standings with 19 points. Thanks to favorable results around the league, all they need is a draw in either of their last two matches in order to clinch the top seed for the upcoming conference tournament.

Unlike matchups this season against longtime conference tormentors like Cal State Fullerton and UC Irvine, the Wahine were unable to extract a point from an opponent that has long had their number.

Cal Poly (5-9-3, 3-4-1) played better than its record would suggest, applying heavy pressure that resulted in a Jessie Halladay penalty kick goal in the 28^th minute and an airborne ball that UH center back Jacey Jicha could not control, resulting in an own goal in the 39^th.

Keeping to season-long form, UH came out sharper for the second half and found the net quickly on a Zoe Park cross to Cate Sheahan for a point-blank header in the 49^th minute. Cal Poly, though, had an answer on a corner kick in the 54th. A Mustang headed it to an unmarked Brennan Cole, who obliged by heading it home.

Three goals tied for the most goals conceded by Hawaii in a match in 2024 (Air Force, at Seattle). UH dropped to 1-10-3 in conference matches against Cal Poly.

UH still edged closer to receiving a first-round bye and hosting duties for the upcoming BWC championships.

In a match played simultaneously at a fog-inundated Theodore Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara, UC Davis won 1-0 over UCSB. It meant the Gauchos (4-1-4) remained at 16 points, three back from Hawaii. And Cal State Northridge won 2-1 at Cal State Bakersfield, meaning the Roadrunners (4-3-2) can no longer catch UH at 14 points with one match left.

Entering Sunday’s 2 p.m. Hawaii time game at UCSB, with senior night against Long Beach State still to play next week, the worst UH can do is the third seed. UC Davis (4-2-2) can get to 20 points and UC Santa Barbara can tie UH at 19 points and own the head-to-head tiebreaker with a Gaucho win Sunday. UH owns the tiebreaker over UCD.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.