Ninth-ranked UCSB opened its game against No. 13 Pacific with seven straight goals on Sunday afternoon at Campus Pool on its way to an 11-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory over the Tigers. The win was the Gauchos’ first in conference play this year.
UCSB improves to 12-11 on the season and 1-4 in MPSF play with the victory while Pacific falls to 12-13 and 0-6 in league games.
The Gaucho offense got rolling early in the game when less than a minute in, UCSB was able to draw the first of 12 Tiger ejections. Freshman Teddy Zhang scored from center on the power play, putting the Gauchos on the scoreboard. During the next UCSB possession, junior Zsombor Vincze drew a five-meter penalty and junior Milos Golic scored on the free shot to stretch the lead to 2-0.
The Gauchos poured on four more goals in the remaining six minutes – including two more from Golic – to hold a 6-0 advantage at the quarter break.
In the second, Vincze added the Gauchos’ seventh consecutive goal at the 5:18 mark during a six-on-five opportunity. On the next possession, Pacific was finally able to break through the Gaucho defense as Goran Tamasevic scored on a power play to put the Tigers on the board.
Tamasevic added the second of his three goals with 1:31 to go in the half, but Vincze responded with another power play goal just 24 seconds later to keep the Gaucho advantage at six goals. With 30 seconds remaining, Tom Koning capitalized on a six-on-five for the Tigers to make the score 8-3 heading into halftime.
Pacific outscored the Gauchos 5-3 in the second half, but UCSB’s early lead had given them plenty of room as the Gauchos held a two or more goal lead the rest of the way.
With a total of 21 ejections during the game, both teams made good use of their six-on-fives. UCSB went 6-for-12 while Pacific went 6-for-10 while a man-up.
Golic led the Gauchos with three goals while Vincze and Sean Castillo each tallied a pair. In goal, Myles Christian made seven saves in 26:45 minutes of play. Fraser Bunn made one in the first quarter.
UCSB will conclude its 2009 home schedule next Saturday, Nov. 14 when they host UC Irvine in a MPSF contest. The game is scheduled for a noon start at Campus Pool and admission, as always, is free. Prior to game time, the Gauchos will celebrate their graduating seniors.
UCSB 11, Pacific 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Pacific | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
Pacific Goals: Goran Tomasevic 3, Joey Gullikson, Lance Morrison, Balazs Szabo, Tyler Reardon, Tom Koning
Pacific Saves: David Andrus 3, Tomislav Bujas 4
UCSB Goals: Milos Golic 4, Zsombor Vincze 2, Sean Castillo 2, Brian Bishop, Noah Smith, Teddy Zhang
UCSB Saves: Myles Christian 7, Fraser Bunn 1
