Rounding out the last day of the MPSF Championships, No. 8 UC Santa Barbara (16-13) found itself playing in the seventh place match against No. 6 Pepperdine (11-13). Coming off two losses to start the Championships, UCSB was aiming to finish off the 2012 campaign with a win. The Gauchos prevailed over Pepperdine by the final score of 9-6.
No. 1 USC won the championship over Cal in a 9-5 game. Also on Sunday, second-seeded UCLA salvaged third place with a 10-9 victory over No. 4 Stanford. Find complete MPSF Tournament results HERE.
The early moments of the game started off slow for both teams. UCSB took a 2-1 lead after the first period, and maintained a 3-2 lead into halftime.
The Gauchos’ defense was impressive all game as they limited the Waves’ offense to just three goals in the first three periods. The third period was where UCSB increased their lead as they outscored Pepperdine 3-1 in the period. Heading into the final period, the Gauchos had a 6-3 advantage over the waves.
Although Pepperdine’s offense was more effective in the final period, UCSB answered back as they scored three more goals in the period to finish off their season with a 9-6 victory.
Leading the Gauchos’ offense with three goals apiece was Eric Van de Mortel and Matt Gronow. Adding the three other scores for UCSB was Bryce Miller, Brian Shoemaker and Mark Garner. In his final game as a Gaucho, Senior goalkeeper Myles Christian had a solid day with eleven saves to lead the defense.
Seniors, Myles Christian and Brian Shoemaker concluded their impressive careers as Gauchos in the victory over Pepperdine today. Christian concluded the season 238 saves which ranks him fourth all time in the UCSB record book for single season saves. Christian also ranks fourth all time in the record book for career saves as he has accumulated a total of 607 saves during his career. Brian Shoemaker’s final season is another example of how consistent of a player he has been as he netted 24 goals this season. For his career, Shoemaker has produced 106 goals for UCSB.
UCSB had its ups and downs and finished the 2012 season with an overall record of 16-12. The team’s success this year was highlighted by their impressive victories over Stanford and UCLA to finish second at the Southern California Tournament.
UCSB 9, PEPPERDINE 6
1 2 3 4 Final UCSB 2 1 3 3 9 Pepperdine 1 1 1 3 6 UC Santa Barbara Goals: Eric Van de Mortel (3) Matt Gronow (3) Bryce Miller, Brian Shoemaker, Mark Garner
UC Santa Barbara Saves: Myles Christian (11)Pepperdine Goals: Stephen Loomis (3) James Perry (2) Matthew DeTrane
Pepperdine Saves: Bence Valics (10)
