UCSB’s men’s soccer team used a trio of second-half goals to overcome San Diego at Torero Stadium on Friday evening in a non-conference match.
Freshman Ema Boateng scored his first collegiate goal to capture the victory for the Gauchos; senior Josue Madueno and junior Achille Campion added a pair of insurance goals to lead UCSB to the 3-0 win.
With the victory, UCSB remains undefeated and improves to 4-0-1 on the season. San Diego, which had won its previous two contests, falls to 2-3-0. The win marked the fifth-straight shutout for the Gauchos over the Toreros; they have scored 10 unanswered goals against the program.
The Gauchos out-shot USD, 10-5, in the first half, but could not break through the Torero defense early in the game.
It finally looked as though UCSB was going to be able to snap the scoreless tie during the waning minutes of the first stanza after Torero goalkeeper Michael D’Arrigo took down Javier Castro in the box, earning a yellow card for himself and granting the Gauchos a penalty kick.
Senior Nic Ryan took the shot, but D’Arrigo made-up for his own foul by coming up with a clutch stop. Ryan got his foot on the rebound, but his shot sailed high and the game remained deadlocked heading into the halftime break.
The Gauchos were finally able to break through in the second half, and they did so in a big way.
Boateng got the ball rolling in the 69th minute when he split two defenders 45-yards from the goal before dashing up the field and sending a left-footed shot from 25-yards out to the back post in the upper left hand corner of the Torero goal. The freshman’s first collegiate goal was assisted by junior Fifi Baiden.
Before the Gaucho fans had time to stop celebrating the 1-0 lead, UCSB gave them another reason to cheer just two minutes later when senior Josue Madueno’s right-footed blast from the top of the 18-yard box deflected off of D’Arrigo’s outstretched hand and then the left post before landing in the San Diego goal. The play began with a give-and-go from junior Dom Sarle.
UCSB capped the match off with one last strike in the 78th minute. Senior Peter McGlynn played a through ball from the right side of the box to junior Achille Campion who re-directed the ball past D’Arrigo with a right heel kick. The goal brought his team-leading total to four so far this season.
Santa Barbara tallied a total of 21 shots with 12 on-goal in the victory. Castro led all players with four shots while junior Goffin Boyoko’s three shots during the game were all on-frame.
The UCSB defensive effort was solid as the Gauchos limited San Diego to nine shots and just four on-frame. Goalkeeper Austin Mansker made four blocks on his way to his second clean slate of the season. D’Arrigo had nine saves for the Toreros.
UCSB will be back in action on Sunday afternoon at Seattle University. The Gauchos will take-on the Redhawks in a 3 p.m. match.
