LOS ANGELES — No. 13 UC Santa Barbara (13-8) defeated Occidental (9-4), 8-5, yet fell to No. 6 Loyola Marymount (12-4) earlier in the day 8-3 in two non-conference games.
In the first game the Gauchos fell behind early 2-0 with goals from Daisy Carrillo and Diana Romero for the Lions. Kathryn Nelson then took advantage of a foul and scored a man-up goal to finish out the period, 2-1.
The Lions held UCSB scoreless in the second period and posted a goal for themselves halfway through the quarter as Romero recorded her second goal of the game. At halftime UCSB was only down two goals, 3-1 yet that proved to be as close as they could get.
Goalkeeper, Ruth Milne had five saves in the first half, but did not record any in the second half.
LMU earned an ejection and a goal to start the second half as Carrillo posted her second goal of the game with seven minutes left in the third period. Mary Ann Campos added another goal for the Lions, before UCSB scored back-to-back goals. Nelson posted her second and final goal of the game, and Bryce Winton pulled the game to within three, 6-3.
The Lions held the Gauchos scoreless in the fourth quarter and pulled out the victory with their final goal coming just 20 seconds into the period. The Lions improved to 11-4 after the 8-3 victory over UCSB.
The Gauchos would rebound later in the day as they took on the Tigers just after noon in another non-conference game.
UCSB was behind early after a goal from the Tigers’ Nanea Fujiyama at the 3:55 mark. One minute later, the Gauchos responded with a goal of their own from Rachel Nelson.
The second period was all UCSB as the Gauchos scored twice from Sienna van Alphen and Nancy Ruano, and held the Tigers scoreless. At halftime the Gauchos led 3-1.
The third period saw back-and-forth scoring between the teams as each team scored three times. Kristin Kulakowski scored twice for the Gauchos and Kacey Creek added another. After the period ended UCSB still had a two-goal lead, 6-4.
Milne recorded seven saves in the game and only allowed one goal in the last period. Michelle Beaubreau recorded the first goal of the fourth period, and Claire Buchanan notched the last goal of the game. The 8-5 victory helped the Gauchos improve to 13-8 overall on the season.
UCSB will return home for the first time since January next weekend to host a trio of non-conference contests. The Gauchos host Bucknell on Saturday, March 19 at 4 p.m. and will welcome Iona and Cal State San Bernardino to Campus Pool the following day at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
LMU 8, UCSB 3
LMU 2 1 4 1 -8
UCSB 1 0 2 0 -3
UCSB Scorers: Kathryn Nelson -2, Bryce Winton -1
LMU Scorers: Mary Ann Campos -3, Daisy Carrillo -2, Diana Romero -2, Kimberly Benedetti -1
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne – 5
LMU Saves: Elise Ponce -9
UCSB 8, OCCIDENTAL 5
Occidental 1 0 3 1 -5
UCSB 1 2 3 2 -8
UCSB Scorers: Kristin Kulakowski -2, Claire Buchanan -1, Michelle Beaudreau -1, Rachel Nelson -1, Sienna van Alphen -1, Kacey Creek -1
Occidental Scorers: Nanea Fujiyama -2, Julie Monday -1, Corrine Casey -1, Karie Nickle -1
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne -7
Occidental Saves: Rachel Adeleye -5
