Tyler Schleich’s first college goal can be described as a golazo.
The former Santa Barbara High soccer standout fought off two defenders before ripping a laser into the side netting of the goal, starting a three-goal second-half outburst to spark Bates College to a 3-1 victory over St. Joseph’s College of Maine on last Tuesday in Lewiston, Maine.
Schleich, a sophomore at the Division 3 school, won the ball on the right side of the box after a free kick from teammate John Murphy and blasted his shot past the goalkeeper to knot the score at 1-1.
Over the weekend, Schleich did a good job defending last year’s conference player of the year and got off the only shot for Bates in a 2-0 loss to Amherst, the No. 3-ranked team in Division 3.
At Santa Barbara, Schleich played midfielder on the 2009 CIF-SS Division 2 championship team and on the 2010 CIF State Regional Division 2 title team.
SERVE TOUGH: Taylor Racich went on an eight-point serving run in the third set to help Pepperdine sweep No. 11-ranked Florida State in the Flo Hyman Cup in Houston. The Waves also beat No. 21 Ohio State and Houston to win the tournament title.
Racich, a freshman out of Dos Pueblos, had three aces during the run, which broke a 5-5 tie. The match scores were 25-21, 25-23, 25-15.
Pepperdine is 9-3 and ranked 14th in the country.
CONTRIBUTING CARDINAL: Ian Gamble of Santa Barbara and Conner Cleary were in action for the No. 4-ranked Stanford water polo team at the NorCal Invitational last weekend.
Gamble, a redshirt junior, netted a goal in a 10-9 overtime loss to top-ranked USC and made a key steal late in a 9-8 win over No. 3 Cal in the third-place game.
Cleary, a 6-6 sophomore from DP, played solid defense in the 2-meter position down the stretch to help the Cardinal improve to 3-1.
Also on the Cardinal team is junior goalie Hunter Ploch from Santa Barbara.
The three local players will be back in Santa Barbara next week for the SoCal Tournament (Sept. 29-30) at UCSB.
NEW KINGSMEN: Former Dos Pueblos football standouts Josh Bartley and Jake Roberts on the roster of the Cal Lutheran football team.
