No. 15 ranked UC Santa Barbara (5-0) opened the UCSB Winter Invite with three convincing wins as they defeated Azusa Pacific, Concordia and No. 18 Cal Baptist.
UCSB will begin their second day of the tournament against Sonoma State at 11:20 a.m. followed by an evening game against No. 5 Arizona State University at 6:20 p.m. with both matches being at the Campus Pool.
The match against Azusa Pacific was a lop-sided contest as the Gauchos came out strong and fast. Building an 8-2 lead at the half, UCSB cruised to victory over Azusa Pacific by the final score of 11-3.
Facing Concordia for their second match of the day, UC Santa Barbara once again displayed their offensive firepower as they jumped to a 7-5 lead after the first half. With the defense playing well in the second half as they did not concede a goal in the third period, the Gauchos sealed another victory by the score of 11-7.
Going up against No. 18 Cal Baptist in their third and final contest of the day, UCSB showed no signs of slowing down. With two goals from freshman Samantha Murphy and a goal from Jessie Porter, the Gauchos claimed a 3-2 lead after the first period.
The defense showed how well it can play as it created many struggles for Cal Baptist. With the solid play of the defense and the offensive capability, UCSB cruised to a 10-5 victory; keeping them undefeated after the first day of competition at the tournament.
Senior Shelby Haroldson and freshmen Samantha Murphy and Jessie Porter led the Gauchos’ offensive effort during today’s matches with all three players tallying five goals apiece. Senior goalkeeper Ruth Milne once again displayed how valuable she is as she recorded 30 saves in the three games today.
UC Santa Barbara 11, Azusa Pacific 3
1 2 3 4 Final APU 1 1 1 0 3 UCSB 4 4 2 1 11 APU Goals: Folsom, Minkekime, Whitney
APU Saves: Armagost (10)UCSB Goals: Baber, Hudson, Nelson, Murphy, Porter, Hafferkamp (2), Haroldson (2), Olofsson-Loo (2)
UCSB Saves: Milne (4), Brokaw (8)
UC Santa Barbara 11, Concordia 7
1 2 3 4 Final Concordia 1 4 0 2 7 UCSB 4 3 1 3 11 Concordia Goals: Ring, Quiroz, Manderino (2), Clark (3)
Concordia Saves: Gurske (12)UCSB Goals: Samantha Murphy, Holly Smith, Shelby Haroldson, Molly Hafferkamp, Jessie Porter (2), Bryn Hudson (2), Rachel Nelson (3),
UCSB Saves: Milne (11)
UC Santa Barbara 10, Cal Baptist 5
1 2 3 4 Final Cal Baptist 2 0 2 1 5 UCSB 3 2 3 2 10 Cal Baptist Goals: Hannah Evans (2) Kim Latschaw (2) Molly Gritchen
Cal Baptist Saves: Meghan Rowland (8)UCSB Goals: Samantha Murphy (3) Shelby Haroldson (2) Jessie Porter (2) Lauren Martin, Kacey Creek, Molly Hafferkamp
UCSB Saves: Ruth Milne (15)
