UCSB’s 6’6″ defender Peter Schmetz towers over Westmont’s 5’2″ Nana Akyen. (Presidio Sports Photos)
UCSB and Westmont put on a dress rehearsal for their regular seasons at Harder Stadium on Saturday night, as the NCAA Gauchos came away with the 3-0 victory over the NAIA Warriors in an exhibition.
Junior transfers Goffin Boyoko and Achille Campion provided UCSB’s first two goals and returner Dom Sarle netted the third in the 77th minute. Boyoko gave the Gauchos the lead barely a minute before halftime.
UCSB’s junior transfer Goffin Boyoko stands 6’0″ and is listed at 177 pounds.
?We stayed in the game longer than we did last year and that was a positive,? said Westmont head coach Dave Wolf. ?I thought we had worked real hard to keep the game level so it was a difficult way to go into halftime. Then I think superior numbers and ability and lots of ability began to take its hold.?
Boyoko and Campion come to UCSB as juniors after playing in the NAIA for the last two seasons. Both also grew up in Paris, France.
Another newcomer to the Gauchos, freshman Ema Boateng, recorded an assist on Sarle’s goal. Josue Madueno tallied an assist on Boyoko’s strike from just inside the 18-yard box.
“I liked our energy tonight. I liked the fact that we were trying what we were working on in practice,” said Gauchos head coach Tim Vom Steeg. “I liked our defense tonight. I thought we were a pass off all night, a little bit, in that final third but, you know, good atmosphere, good crowd.”
The official attendance was 2,273 for the exhibition.
Westmont had its hands full with the No. 11-ranked Gauchos.
UCSB’s Achille Campion battles with Westmont’s Gustavo Hernandez in the first half of Saturday’s exhibition at Harder Stadium
?I thought some of our passing sequences were actually quite good,? Wolf said. ?Even when they backed us down a little bit, I thought defensively we stayed calm and were able to weather the storm. I thought (goalkeeper) Matt (McNab) was very solid in the goal. We have a little bit of a make-shift back four right now and I thought they held up very well.
For the match, UCSB held a 20-4 shot advantage over the Warriors and led 9-1 in shots on-goal.
It was the 50th Annual Bryant and Sons Cup pitting the cross-town schools against each other. UCSB has won the past 13 contests to even the overall series at 23-23-4.
The Gauchos travel to Loyola Marymount for their season opener next Sunday.
