The No. 15 UCSB Gauchos (9-4) faced No.4 California (11-2) in the round of the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday. The Golden Bears were able to take advantage of multiple UCSB fouls and pulled away in the second half for the victory, 10-6. In the second round, UCSB faced No. 12 Cal State Northridge and bounced back with an explosive first half to get the 11-8 victory.
UCSB fell behind early in the third game of the invitational to Cal, 2-1. They were able to bounce back in the second period and matched the Golden Bears’ two goals to head into halftime down one goal, 4-3.
In the third period, Cal took a three-goal-lead by scoring three goals in the quarter while UCSB only scored one.
The game ended when the UCSB comeback fell short. UCSB managed two goals in the period but it wasn’t enough and Cal scored three goals in the quarter to get the win.
Goalkeeper, Ruth Milne recorded 14 saves in the game but the Gauchos were defeated, 10-6, and thus had to face Cal State Northridge in the second round. Emily Csikos scored a game-high three goals for the Golden Bears while UCSB Seniors Kathryn Nelson and Claire Buchanan both scored two.
In the twelfth game of the tournament, the Gauchos faced CSU Northridge, who they have not yet played this season.
The Gauchos came out firing early in the game and took a 5-3 lead in the first period. The teams both scored three goals in the second period, leading to a two-goal-lead for UCSB at halftime, 8-6.
UCSB played tough defense in the second half and only gave up a total of two goals. Milne led the defense and recorded another eight saves.
The Gauchos scored once in the third and twice in the fourth to hold onto the 11-8 victory and improved their record to 10-5.
Nelson is still leading the Gauchos will goals scored on the season and added four more goals to her previous 24. By scoring two goals in each game, Nelson has now scored in all but two games this season and has nine multiple goal games.
Buchanan added four goals to her previous 11 on the season and has scored 10 goals over the past two tournaments.
The Gauchos will now face No. 11 San Jose State (8-8) at 8 am to start day two of the invitational. If they win, they will face either, tournament host, UC Irvine or Long Beach State.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Cal | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 10 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
Cal goals: Emily Csikos – 3, Jessica Robinson – 2, Ashley Young – 1, Kelly Mendoza – 1, Katie Monton – 1, Remington Price – 1, Jennifer Docto – 1
UCSB goals: Justine Ramos – 1, Claire Buchanan – 2, Kathryn Nelson – 2, Nancy Ruano – 1
Saves: Peckham (Cal) – 9, Dorst (Cal) – 2, Ruth Milne (UCSB) – 14
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |||||||||||
| Cal State Northridge | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 8 | ||||||||||
| UCSB | 5 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
UCSB goals: Kilee Dreyer – 1, Claire Buchanan – 2, Kristin Kulakowski – 1, Kathryn Nelson – 2, Christie Clark – 1, Shelby Haroldson – 1, Kacey Creek – 2, Molly Hafferkamp – 1
CSUN goals: Whitney Delgado – 1, Sydney Sonoda – 2, Jessica Goforth – 1, Heidi Pettinger – 4
Saves: Ruth Milne (UCSB) – 8, Concialdi (CSUN) – 2
