SPOKANE, Wash. – After coming from behind to take a 2-1 lead into halftime, the ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer team was forced to settle for a 2-2 double overtime tie with Oregon State on Friday, the opening day of the Gonzaga Nike Classic being held at the Gonzaga Soccer Stadium.
With the draw, UCSB remains undefeated on the early season with a 1-0-1 record. The Beavers share an identical mark.
The Gauchos fell behind early when Khiry Shelton received a through ball from Jackson Groves in the 13th minute, dribbled in drawing UCSB goalkeeper Austin Mansker out, and then shot the ball past him to put the Beavers up 1-0.
UCSB tied the game in the 41st minute when Dion Acoff fired the ball to the left post of the Beaver goal from 25 yards out for his first goal with the Gauchos.
Then, just a few minutes later, Javier Castro headed in a cross from Peter McGlynn to give the Gauchos their first lead of the game with just 43 seconds to go before halftime.
The Gauchos maintained their lead until the 72nd minute when Chase Raskowsky crossed the ball from the deep left side to Alex Penny, who faked before finding the top left corner of the goal from 15 yards out to tie things up at 2-2.
After battling through the remaining 18 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime periods, the teams were still deadlocked and forced to leave the pitch with a draw.
The Gauchos out-shot the Beavers, 20-10 in the game and led the corner kick battle, 9-2. Achille Campion led all players with five shots during the game and he accounted for two of UCSB’s nine on-frame. Acoff and Ema Boateng each had four shots. In goal, Mansker made one save for the Gauchos while Oregon State’s Matt Bersano had to make seven stops to keep the Beavers in the game.
UCSB will continue action at the Gonzaga Nike Classic on Sunday when it plays host Gonzaga in a 2 p.m. match-up. Fans can listen in to a live radio broadcast locally on 1290 AM.
The UCSB men will return home on Sept. 7 to host Valparaiso at 7:30 p.m. at Meredith Field at Harder Stadium.
