Standards are high at for the UCSB men’s soccer team.
That’s why coach Tim Vom Steeg wasn’t necessarily elated after the No. 14 Gauchos handed visiting Evansville, ranked 21st, a 4-2 loss.
The Gauchos outshot the Purple Aces 25-8, but didn’t get the eventual game-winner until the 73rd minute, when Martin Hedevag got way up for a pretty header to make it 3-2. While Evansville (5-1-0) is a quality team, Vom Steeg said that the lack of conversion won’t cut it when top-ranked Wake Forest comes to Harder Stadium on Sunday night.
“This was a big win because of what happened over the weekend (losses to unranked Rutgers and Columbia), but you kind of saw tonight what our problem was this weekend. I mean, 25-8 against a team that’s 5-0. We’re not going to get 25 shots on Sunday.”
Chris Pontius scored a pair if goals for the Gauchos (4-2-0) on 10 shots, and Hedevag’s goal came off of a Danny Barrera corner-kick. Hedevag is a midfielder by trade, but was making his first start as a defender.
“I was late in for the corner, but I pointed to Danny and he pretty much placed it on my head,” said the red-headed Swede.
As for the position switch, Hedevag said it might take a few games to get used to. Vom Steeg made the decision in order to add some size to the defense. Hedevag will play in the same spot Sunday.
“There are things that you can fix and there are other things that you just have to change. Fixing our goal-scoring is just something we’ll keep working on but the fundamental problem in the back was that the combination of (Michael) Tetteh and (Michael) Boxall never really worked,” said Vom Steeg.
The Purple Aces went up first in the 20th minute, when Mike Luttrull put one in from the top of the box into the upper right corner. Pontius equalized it in the 35th, and young freshman Bryan Dominguez sent a cannon blast that ricocheted off Evansville goalie Alec Duffy and rolled in just a few minutes before the half.
Kipp Erskine scored on a header for the visitors in the 63rd, but Hedevag was there with the go-ahead score 10 minutes later. Pontius ended the scoring by beating three defenders on the left side and firing a low shot into the far corner in the 87th minute.
Vom Steeg said that as far as talent goes, he likes the matchup with Wake Forest, saying they’re “very beatable,” but the biggest concern will be stopping the potent Demon Deacon forward attack, led by reigning College Cup offensive MVP Marcus Tracy.
“The only thing they’ve got going on over us is that if you give Marcus Tracy a ball in the box, he ain’t missin’ it… But I’ll be honest with you. I think we match up better with Wake than we did for tonight’s game,” said Vom Steeg.
While the match-ups are favorable, Vom Steeg noted that the freshman-laden Gauchos have not fully come together as a team as of yet.
“Right now, we’re really on 15 different pages, but it just so happens that we are really good at every position,” he said.
With the defending national champions coming to town Sunday, the Gauchos will have to jump on the same page ASAP. A packed house is expected to be behind them.
