No.8 UCSB couldn’t hold off a balanced UCLA attack and lost, 12-5, in a quarterfinal match of the SoCal tournament at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. The Gauchos earlier defeated UC San Diego, 15-9, in the opening match of pool play.
Against the Bruins, UCSB got off to a slow start, surrendering four goals in the first five minutes of play. The Gauchos were losing 5-0 before junior Brian Shoemaker found the back of the net with 4:19 to play in the second quarter. Shoemaker scored three goals in the quarter, singlehandedly trying to keep UCSB alive. The Bruins continued to keep the pressure on, matching the Gauchos goal for goal in the second and taking a 7-3 lead into the break.
Shoemaker and sophomore Matt Gronow both scored for UCSB in the third quarter, but UCLA’s defense proved difficult to solve. The Bruins had four players score at least two goals, using a coordinated attack to down the Gauchos.
In the first game, UCSB proved too tough to handle for an unranked UC San Diego team. The Gauchos roared out of the gate with six first quarter goals. Sophomore Scott Bishop scored 1:23 into the game, with freshman Nick Tomasello netting two goals in the quarter to help give the Gauchos a 6-2 after the first. Both teams scored four times each in the second, keeping the game close going into halftime.
UCSB outscores the Tritons 5-3 in the second half, with Tomasello scoring again in the third. A total of 11 Gauchos scored in the game, leading to the strong victory. Sophomore goalkeeper Jay Lovero was credited with 12 saves in the game, holding UCSD to under 10 goals.
UCSB (9-5) will play two games on Sunday at the Joint Forces Training Base. The Gauchos play Pacific at 9:50 a.m. and then either UC Irvine or Pepperdine in the afternoon game.
1 2 3 4 Total
UC Santa Barbara 6 4 2 3 15
UC San Diego 2 4 1 2 9
UCSB Goals: Tomasello 3, B. Shoemaker 2, Gillespie 2, Van de Mortel, Zhang, Gronow, McCunney, Bishop, Johnson, Racich, Smith
UCSB Goalkeeper Saves: Lovero 12
UCSD Goals: Saber 4, Syka 2, Dietrich, Curtiss, Mikalko
UCSD Goalkeeper Saves: Morton 6
1 2 3 4 Total
UC Santa Barbara 0 3 2 0 5
UCLA 4 3 3 2 12
UCSB Goals: B. Shoemaker 4, Gronow
UCSB Goalkeeper Saves: Christian 6
