The UCSB women’s soccer team continued to struggle for goals on Sunday, dropping a 1-0 decision at Cal State Northridge. It was UCSB’s third consecutive one-goal loss.
For the second straight match, the Gauchos (5-9-2 overall, 0-4 in Big West) could not muster a goal and the Matadors (4-7-2 overall, 2-1-1 in Big West) parlayed that into a shutout win.
Northridge scored the only goal of the match at 49:29 when Amanda Smith crossed a ball just inside the penalty box. Nicole Cruz, who came off the bench, collected the pass and hit paydirt on a shot from the left side of the box that went into the right corner of the goal.
UCSB stayed in the match because of the play of sophomore goalkeeper Makenna Henry. The Fountain Valley native had six saves as she limited the Matadors to just one goal. Some of her goals were of the spectacular variety.
Cynthia, Jacobo, the All-Big West goalkeeper each of the last two seasons, had five saves for Northridge.
Santa Barbara finished with 13 shots overall, five of which were on frame. The Matadors had 19, including seven on frame. UCSB’s leader was Katy Roby who had four overlal and two that would have gone in if Jacobo had not made the stop.
The Gauchos resume Big West play on Sunday, Oct. 16 when they host UC Riverside in a 5 p.m. match at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium
