Dyanne Anderson took a perfect pass from Erin Ortega and scored her second goal of the game in the 87th minute to break a 2-2 tie and lift UC Santa Barbara to a 3-2 win over visiting Fresno State on Friday night.
It was the second time that Anderson and Ortega hooked up for a goal in the game. Ortega also scored an unassisted goal to go with her two assists. The Gauchos improve to 2-2-1 while the Bulldogs dropped to 2-2-1.
The game-winner came when Katy Roby found Ortega just over midfield. The junior forward had a trio of defenders around her but was able to dribble into the box with Anderson running to her left. Almost immediately after entering the box, Ortega hit a through-ball that found Anderson, who had gotten behind the defense, and she blasted a shot into the lower left corner of the goal. It was her third score of the season.
“That was a very big lift,” said Gaucho head coach Paul Stumpf. “We started the game so well offensively but gave up a bad goal with about 10 minutes left to tie the score. We could have gotten down, but we didn’t.”
The Bulldog goal to tie the score came in the 77th minute. Gaucho goalkeeper Makenna Henry attempted to clear the ball but instead, hit Fresno’s Morgan Castain in the face. Castain quickly collected herself and pushed a shot past Henry.
UCSB jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first half. The first time that Anderson and Ortega connected was at the 12:16 mark. Ortega cracked a shot from 15 yards straight out, hit the crossbar, and Anderson was right there to put the rebound home.
Ortega’s goal was an outstanding individual effort. In the 28th minute, she drove down the right side with a Fresno State defender in tow, beat the defender, cut to her left and shoved a shot that was deflected, but not stopped, by Bulldog goalkeeper Katie DeVault. It was her first goal of the year.
Fresno State halved the Gaucho lead at the 41:13 mark when Castain scored into the left post on a perfect cross from Molly Nizzoli.
The three goals scored by UCSB were a season-high. In fact, the Gauchos entered the game with just three goals through their first four matches. Last weekend, they struggled in a pair of losses, totaling just one goal.
“I hope this gives us some momentum entering Sunday’s game,” Stumpf said, referring to the team’s game against New Mexico which will kick-off at noon. “I thought Dyanne (Anderson) and Erin (Ortega) were really dynamic tonight and hopefully that becomes contagious.”
