FULLERTON — UCSB didn’t experience a post-UCLA letdown Wednesday night in its Big West Conference men’s soccer opener at Cal State Fullerton.
But the Gauchos were feeling down as they walked off the field at Titans Stadium.
Fullerton, playing with a man advantage, scored on a loose ball during goal-mouth scramble in the final minute of the first overtime and stunned the Gauchos 1-0.
Antonio Vernaschi’s game-winning goal came off the Titans’ only corner kick of the game. UCSB goalkeeper Sam Hayden vehemently protested that he was fouled as he came out for the ball and was given a red card by the referee.
It was the second ejection of the night for the Gauchos. Forward Sam Garza was red-carded in the last 15 minutes of regulation for retaliation against a Titan player who had grabbed him.
The loss snapped a three-match winning streak for the Gauchos, who fell to 3-3-2 on the year and 0-1-0 in the Big West. Fullerton is 2-4-1 and 1-0-0.
“We did pretty much anything we wanted to tonight,” a somber UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said, “but we didn’t get a trap, shot, goal. We didn’t get it done.”
Vom Steeg said his team wasn’t suffering a hangover from the 2-0 win over UCLA before a NCAA-record crowd last Friday at Harder Stadium.
“We had a great warm-up, a very good game plan and, by and large, we executed. We were very good in the back tonight; we were very good at passing the ball. Our forwards failed to deliver.”
UCSB outshot the Titans 22-8, including 10 shots on goal. The Gauchos also had 12 corner kicks.
“We ran into a very, very good goalkeeper who made some very, very, good saves, and we hit the post,” Vom Steeg said. “We had a couple of chances where we absolutely should have put the ball away and we didn’t.
“In terms of how we played,” he added, “we played very well. We were as dominate as we’ve been in a game, which makes it even more disappointing.”
Fullerton goalkeeper Trevor Whiddon was credited with 10 saves, several by his fingertips near the cross bar. His best save came on point-blank shot by Garza in the 64th minute. The Gauchos’ Luis Silva rattled a long shot off the left post in the 37th minute.
“We broke one of the rules we have,” Vom Steeg said. “I can’t remember the last time we lost a game where we put 10 balls on frame.”
On Fullerton’s goal, Vom Steeg said Hayden complained that a Titan player grabbed one of his arms as he came out to punch the ball away. As a consequence, the ball popped straight up and Vernaschi got his foot on it as it fell to the ground.
“Again, it’s another game lost when no soccer was required,” a frustrated Vom Steeg said.
The Gauchos return home Saturday night for a conference game against UC Davis.
Is there someone on here not too closely tied with the team that can say something about how Sam Garza tends to carry himself? Very curious after attending last night’s game (my first seeing the Gauchos in person this season.)
He looks like an extremely sharp ballplayer but had a few of those dead-ball moments that make me lack sympathy for such a crucial ejection. It would be a shame if what he has going upstairs doesn’t remotely match the skill that exists for him downstairs.
At the same time, I also say all this with some questions about the head official for last night’s game in my mind. He seemed to pander to the crowd’s reactions on a few calls, making them well after the play at-hand, and seemed to lack the ability to encompass the entire grasp of the field.