Junior Peter McGlynn scored the golden goal in the 102nd minute of Saturday evening’s match with visiting UC Davis to propel No. 17 UCSB to a 2-1 victory and its first Big West Conference win of the season at Harder Stadium. The match was the Gauchos’ fifth to go into overtime and the win was their first in extra time this year.
UCSB improves to 4-3-2 on the year and 1-1 in the Big West while UC Davis falls to 2-7-0 and 0-1. Prior to tonight’s win, the Gauchos had gone 0-2-2 in their previous overtime contests.
The game-winning play began with a pass from James Kiffe to Danny Barrera on the left side of the field. Barrera crossed the ball into the box to McGlynn, who headed it in to seal the Gaucho win. It marked the first goal of the season for the junior and the second of his career.
The UCSB offense had gotten rolling early as the Gauchos created several shot opportunities in the opening minutes of the game. Joe Eubanks had two great looks in the first eight minutes, but the first went wide and the second deflected off the post.
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Michael Nonni got an open shot in the ninth minute when he beat a pair of defenders, but Aggie goalkeeper Ryan McCowan came up with the save. Nonni didn’t take long to attack again. In the 10th minute, Barrera found Kiffe, who crossed the ball into Nonni in front of the goal. The forward headed the ball in to give UCSB an early 1-0 lead.
The Aggies were able to battle their way back into the game on a set piece in the 34th minute. Nick Grigoriev crossed his corner kick into the box where Alex Aguiar connected with a header. A line of Gaucho defenders blocked the shot, but Lance Peterson got to the deflected ball and headed it in to tie the game at one apiece.
UCSB controlled possession for the majority of the second half, out-shooting the Aggies, 8-1, and had a 5-1 advantage in corners. The Gauchos struggled, though, to get past UC Davis as the team was packed back onto the defensive end for the majority of the half.
With the game still tied at one-all, the teams were forced into overtime. David Opoku looked as if he was going to win the game for the Gauchos in the first overtime period when he connected for a header off of Barrera’s free kick in the 93rd minute, but the shot went just wide. It ended up being the last shot for either team prior to the game-winner from McGlynn.
For the game, the Gauchos out-shot the Aggies, 14-5, and had a slight 5-4 advantage in corners.Chris Hunter, Barrera and Eubanks led all players with three shots while Nonni had a game-high two on-frame. Barrera and Kiffe were credited with assists on both of the Gauchos’ goals.
In the goal, freshman Eric Reyes made his first collegiate appearance and recorded two saves.
“We can’t play these (overtime) games expecting something bad to happen,” head coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “It’s nice to get the goal that wins us the game and finally get over the hump in these overtime games.”
The Gauchos will continue Big West play next Wednesday, Oct. 6 when they host to Cal State Fullerton for a 7 p.m. pairing at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium.
