Ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara fell to No. 2 Cal, 7-4, on Saturday afternoon at the Gauchos’ Campus Pool in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match-up, but bounced back and defeated Fresno Pacific later in the day, 17-7.
With the split, the Gauchos are now 11-11 on the season and 0-4 in the MPSF. Including the pairing with Cal, UCSB has played the top-three ranked teams in the country in a span of 10 days. Cal improved to 17-4 overall and 4-1 in league play.
Against the Golden Bears, UCSB got on the scoreboard first when Kendell Olds sent a skip shot to the high right corner of the Cal goal with 4:50 on the clock. The Bears were able to tie the game during the next possession when they drew a five-meter penalty and Spencer Warden converted the free shot. Just 30 seconds later, Zsombor Vincze capitalized on a six-on-five opportunity to put the Gauchos up by one again.
Trailing 2-1 with less than a minute on the clock in the first quarter, Cal got an opportunity to knot the score up with a two-on-one fast break. Spencer White scored on the counter attack to make the score two-all.
The two teams each failed to convert a six-on-five opportunity early in the second half, but with 4:48 to go in the half, Cal’s Charlie Stephens took full advantage of a power play opportunity and gave the Bears their first lead of the game at 3-2. Cal proceeded to post three more unanswered goals to stretch is lead to 6-2 with 3:28 on the clock in the third quarter.
Milos Golic was able to halt the Gauchos’ scoring drought with a five-meter penalty goal with 3:10 on the clock, but it was the lone UCSB goal in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter was a defensive battle with neither team tallying a goal until the final minute. With 43 seconds on the clock, Cal drew a Gaucho ejection and as the teams became even, Brian Dudley scored to give the Bears a 7-3 advantage with just 22 seconds remaining.
With just two seconds left, freshman Geng Wang scored a six-on-five goal to put the final score at 7-4.
“We gave up two poor goals early and in the end, those two goals came back to haunt us,” said head coach Wolf Wigo of the loss. “It was a very defensive game and we really struggled offensively.”
In the goal, junior Fraser Bunn tallied 13 saves for the Gauchos. Wil Toppen had six saves for the Bears.
While the Gaucho offense may have struggled in the first game of the day, it certainly came alive in the second when UCSB defeated Fresno Pacific, 17-7.
Several underclassmen racked up valuable playing time in the game with the Sunbirds and freshman Teddy Zhang really stood out, tallying a career-best six goals in the win.
Freshman Chris Dyer posted his first career hat trick while his classmates, Dylan Baliani and Brent McCunney each posted a pair of goals.
In goal, Myles Christian posted a save in the first half while the Gauchos shut out their opposition in the opening eight minutes. Russell Russo tallied five saves in the final three quarters.
UCSB will host No. 13 Pacific on Sunday in another MPSF pairing. The game is scheduled for a noon start at Campus Pool and admission, as always, is free.
Cal 7, UCSB 4
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – Final
Cal 2 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 7
UCSB 2 – 0 – 1 – 1 – 4
Cal Goals: Mason Cox, Ivan Rackov, Mike Sample, Brian Dudley, Charlie Stephens, Spencer Warden, Spencer White
Cal Saves: Will Toppen 6
UCSB Goals: Zsombor Vincze, Kendell Olds, Milos Golic, Geng Wang
UCSB Saves: Fraser Bunn 13
UCSB 17, Fresno Pacific 7
1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – Final
Fresno Pacific 0 – 1 – 3 – 3 – 7
UCSB 4 – 3 – 5 – 5 – 17
Fresno Pacific Goals: Milorad Pavlovic 3, Glenn Lyon 2, Krisztian Kovacs, Tim Kahn
Fresno Pacific Saves: Riley Warner 7
UCSB Goals: Teddy Zhang 6, Chris Dyer 3, Dylan Baliani 2, Brent McCunney 2, Sam Evans, Ryen Flint, Joe Plume, Geng Wang
UCSB Saves: Russell Russo 5, Myles Christian 1
