Miranda Cornejo scored on a header 3:20 into the first half of overtime to give UCSB a 1-0 women’s soccer win over visiting Pacific on Friday night.
Cornejo’s first goal of the season came off of a low arcing corner kick from Geneve Dromensk. Cornejo redirected the corner, bouncing it past Tiger goalkeeper Tashia Long. While it was Cornejo who scored the goal on an assist by by Dromensk, it was all made possible by Angelisa Cortez.
The Gauchos (2-2-1) were awarded the corner after an outstanding hustle play by Cortez who pursued a Pacific (0-4-1) defender to the end line and then used her body to maneuver around the opponent and knock the ball off her and over the end line.
The Gauchos’ goal ended a defensive battle that saw UCSB outshoot the Tigers 14-7. Long was up to the task for most of the night as she recorded six saves. Beth Ritter, making her second career start in the stead of injured Makenna Henry, was credited with her first career victory and shutout. The win was the Gauchos first over Pacific since 2003 (0-3-5).
The win was also a nice rebound for Santa Barbara, which lost 1-0 in the last minute of the second overtime on Sunday at Loyola Marymount.
The Gauchos remain at home and will host Cincinnati on Sunday.
