Luis Silva advances the ball on his way to scoring UCSB's second goal in the second half. (Vince Agapito photo)
UCSB thrilled its biggest crowd of the year and a national television audience with two dazzling goals in a 2-0 win over Cal Poly in the final regular season game on a chilly Friday night at Harder Stadum.
Sam Garza dribbled through two defenders and beat a third to score unassisted in the 46th minute and Luis Silva put away his 15th goal of the season off a perfectly executed through pass from Dom Sarle in the 78th minute to reward the 13,822 in attendance.
The crowd was the second largest in UCSB history and the fifth highest for an NCAA regular-season match.
With their fourth straight win, the Gauchos (13-5-1) vault into second place with 18 points (6-4-0), two ahead of UC Davis (5-3-1, 16 points), which plays at fourth-place UC Riverside (4-3-2, 14 points) on Saturday. A loss or tie by Davis would clinch second for UCSB and give it a home game against Riverside in the semifinals of the Big West Tournament. If the Aggies win, the Gauchos finish third and travel to Davis.
UCSB went right at the Mustangs in the first half and created several good scoring chances. Cal Poly goalkeeper Patrick McLain kept his team in the game by making five saves. He also got help from the post on a shot by Silva.
Sam Garza got things going in the second period with the first goal.
“I thought we combined well through their center backs and we walked in three balls in that first half, and Silva hit the post, so I thought we were a little unlucky not to be up by one or two goals,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “I thought we combined well in the right parts of the field.”
“They stepped back and let has possession of the ball and we took advantage of it,” said Silva. “It was just a matter of finishing and in the second half we did.”
It took a brilliant individual effort by Garza to break the scoreless game early in the second half. He turned on the speed, dribbled through a pair of Mustangs, juked a third and beat McLain with a shot inside the far post.
“I challenged Garza that he had to keep running at that kid out wide,” Vom Steeg said. “He got the shot that we needed. That first goal was a big goal.”
“That was beautiful. It just opened up everything,” said Silva of his teammate’s goal.
Silva finished off the Mustangs (6-9-3, 3-6-1) after a great piece of work by Sarle. On a counterattack, Sarle dribbled up the middle of the field and waved at Garza to fill the lane on the right. Silva then came up on his left and Sarle fed him beautifully for a one-on-one with McLain. The lethal Silva dribbled around the goalkeeper and tucked away his shot for a goal in his fifth straight game.
“It was a great ball played through by Dom — it was a Dom ball, perfectly weighted, it was just enough, and Silva from that position is not going to miss. He hasn’t missed from there all year,” said Vom Steeg.
The Gauchos also got a solid game from senior centerback Tim Pontius, who was all over the field.
The one setback to the night was Pontius picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will miss the semifinal game of the Big West Tournament.
“It means we have to juggle things again come Wednesday,” said Vom Steeg.
