No. 19 UC Santa Barbara was handed a pair of losses on Saturday, the first day of the UC Irvine Invitational. The Gauchos fell to No. 1 USC, 16-3, and No. 7 UC Davis, 10-6, at UCI’s Anteater Pool.
With the losses, UCSB falls to 4-5 overall this season. During the tournament’s first round, 11 USC players scored as the top-ranked Trojans handed UCSB a 16-3 loss. The Gauchos were unable to get on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter, when they outscored USC 3-2.
Senior Gillian Morgan led the team with two goals while sophomore Kristin Kulakowski posted one. Sophomore Chelsea Carrillo had five saves in the cage for the Gauchos.
Against UC Davis, the two teams were tied 1-1 after the first quarter before the Aggies outscored UCSB 4-2 in the second to take a 5-3 lead into halftime. Santa Barbara outscored Davis 2-1 in the third quarter to trail by just one heading into the final period. The Aggies were able to close the door in the fourth and took the 10-6 victory.
Morgan once again led the team, tallying a hat trick in the loss. She is now just one goal away from tying Jennifer D’Anna for second on the UCSB all-time career goals list with 152. Katie Kepner had two goals in the loss and Kate Murphy tallied eight saves.
The Gauchos will continue action at the UC Irvine Invitational on Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. UCSB will face the loser between Long Beach State and UC Irvine at Corona del Mar High School.
