This game wasn’t short on action. In a wide-open, fast-paced game that was full of excellent scoring chances and clutch defensive plays, UCSB and No. 25 Michigan State battled to a 1-1 tie in the Gauchos’ women’s soccer home opener Thursday night at Harder Stadium.
Both teams raced up and down the field all game long, applying heavy pressure on each other’s defenses with some superb play by the forwards. Michigan State’s dynamo duo of Lauren Hill and Laura Heyboer gave the Gauchos a workout, while UCSB’s Kylie McDonald, Kailyn Kugler, Genelle Ives and Jacqui Simon had the Spartans scrambling in the back.
“From the very beginning, when we get our scouting reports, we were informed they had two very talented forwards, so we were aware of the challenge,” said UCSB’s Nicole Romanowski, who made several big defensive plays. “Our back four did a very good job. When we were pressured, we all covered for each other. We seemed to get a good rhythm in the back doing that.”
After being denied several times by the play of center backs Romanowski and Alexa Stringer and the rest of the Gaucho defense, Michigan State (2-0-1) finally broke through in the 64th minute on a brilliant give-and-go between Heyboer and Hill. Hill ran onto a through pass in the box, forcing goalkeeper Ali Cutler to come off of her line. Cutler smothered the ball, but it popped loose and Hill put her shot away for the first goal of the game.
“They run off each other very well because of the pace and the trouble they cause,” UCSB coach Paul Stumpf said of Hill and Heyboer, who was a starter for the U.S. Under-20 national team. “But,” he noted, “our defense did an exceptional job. By and large, we shut down a very good offense team there. Defensively, we’re tough to break down.”
The Gauchos (1-2-1) showed that they’ve got plenty of firepower, too. They would score the equalizer four minutes later. McDonald drove the ball to the end line on the left side of the goal and laid a pass back for Kugler, who cracked a shot that was blocked. The deflected ball landed at the feet of Erin Ortega at the top of the box and she blasted a shot that hit off the inside of the cross bar and across the goal line.
The teams continued to play at a high pace, which resulted in more scoring chances.
Cutler made a huge play in the 81st minute on a breakaway by Heyboer. She forced the Spartans’ forward wide right and Heyboer wound up shooting the ball into the side netting at the near post.
The Gauchos had three great chances to take the lead in the final five minutes of regulation time, but Michigan State goalkeeper Jill Flietstra came up each time. First, she stopped Ives on point-blank header, deflected a blistering free kick by Simon from inside the box (after a goalkeeping violation) over the cross bar and then stopped a brilliant shot by Simon from close range.
“That was ridiculous,” Romanowski said of Simon’s trapping of the ball, turn and blast on goal.
The Gaucho defense continued to stand tall during the overtime periods. Romanowski and Stringer both blocked shots in the final OT period.
“Today has got to give our girls confidence to compete,” Stumpf said. “We haven’t played well (in the first three matches). Tonight was the first night I felt good about our play.”
