Berkeley — One day after No. 4 UC Santa Barbara (15-9, 1-6) suffered a loss at Pacific, UCSB traveled to No. 4 Cal (14-7, 4-3) to finish off their three game road swing and settle their national rankings as both teams are tied for the No. 4 ranking. In the end, the Gauchos fell to the Golden Bears by the score of 13-9.
Cal got on the scoreboard first as Mason Cox scored a 6:17 goal to give the Golden Bears the early lead. Eric Van de Mortel tied things up for UCSB as he netted a score with 5:41 remaining in the opening period. Cal went on to score two more goals, giving themselves a 3-1 lead. UC Santa Barbara answered back with three unanswered goals as Nick Tomasello, Dylan Balianiand Matt Gronow each added a goal to give the Gauchos the 4-3 lead.
The match continued to be tight as Cal tied the game early in the second period with a goal from Collin Smith. With 6:01 remaining on the game clock for the second period, Cal took the 5-4 lead on a 6-on-5 opportunity as Aleksa Saponjic scored for the Bears. Once again, UCSB answered back as Matt Gronow scored his second goal of the match to tie things up. Cal produced two more goals in the period while Evan Dellinger tallied another goal for the Gauchos. At the end of the half, the Golden Bears carried a narrow 7-6 lead.
The third period started brightly for UC Santa Barbara as Teddy Zhang tied the game, 7-7 with a 7:37 goal. Despite UCSB striking first, Cal’s offense produced a string of four straight goals, increasing their lead to 11-7 with 1:38 left in the period. Ending the scoreless drought for UCSB was Eric Van de Mortel as he put away his second goal of the game making the score 11-8.
The final period of the match started off as a defensive showdown with the first two goals of the period coming late from Cal’s Thomas Agramonte. The two goals gave Cal a comfortable 13-8 cushion. Eric Van de Mortel completed his hat trick for the game as he scored a late 1:20 goal to make the final score a 13-9 victory for the Golden Bears.
Eric Van de Mortel once again led the Gauchos’ offense with a hat trick while Matt Gronow scored two goals. Teddy Zhang, Nick Tomasello, Dylan Baliani and Evan Dellinger all added one goal. Senior goalkeeper Myles Christian did not play in this game as freshmen, Chris Whitelegge started in his place and recorded an impressive 12 saves.
Up next for UC Santa Barbara is their last MPSF conference game of the season as the Gauchos face Long Beach State, next Saturday, Nov. 17 at the UCSB Campus Pool. The game will be played at noon and seniors, Myles Christian and Brian Shoemaker will be honored as it is their last MPSF conference action.
CAL 13, UCSB 9
1 2 3 4 Final UCSB 4 2 2 1 9 CAL 3 4 4 2 13 UC Santa Barbara Goals: Erik Van de Mortel (3), Matt Gronow (2), Teddy Zhang, Dylan Baliani, Nick Tomasello, Evan Dellinger
UC Santa Barbara Saves: Chris Whitelegge (12)Cal Goals: Collin Smith (3), Aleksa Saponjic (3), Thomas Agramonte (2), Marin Balarin, Mason Cox, Hunter Gettelfinger, Colin Mulcahy, Luka Ivanovic
Cal Saves: Jon Sibley 10
