UC Santa Barbara won another match in dramatic fashion within the last minute as the women’s soccer team beat a visiting UC Davis 3-2 in double overtime Sunday afternoon at Harder Stadium.
The Gauchos had earned their first conference win of the season on Friday night with a goal in the last minute to defeat Hawai’i 2-1.
The improved offense for UCSB (8-5-2, 2-2) held possession of the ball at the start of the match that included two back-to-back shots from a corner kick. After a few missed attempts, forward Makenna Kummer made a cross in front of the penalty box to Angelisa Cortez. Cortez took control of the ball and shot the ball past Aggies goalkeeper Taylor Jern to put the Gauchos up 1-0 in the 38th minute. This was Cortez’s team-leading fifth goal of the season.
UC Davis (4-8-3, 1-1-2) would score the equalizer with their own goal seven minutes later. A loose ball in the middle of the field would be taken down the field by Davis’ Rachel Smith, which pulled Gaucho goalkeeper Beth Ritter to come out of her box. Smith powered a shot from 30 yards out and the ball slowly made its way inside the net.
UCSB entered the second half managing the ball in their favor again to take back the lead over UC Davis. A corner kick at the 73rd minute by senior midfielder Geneve Dromensk flew the ball over a group of UCSB and UC Davis players awaiting it in front of the goal box. It would be Chace Schornstein that met the ball with a header to drive it into the net and make the score 2-1.
The Aggies would respond once more with another goal at the 87th minute in regulation to push the game into overtime. Haley Hughes executed a well-timed cross to teammate Sienna Davis, who then shot the ball past a lunging Ritter.
In overtime, both teams were conservative in their shooting as they combined for only three shots taken. Despite the cutback, the Gauchos made the most important shot of the day at the 109:41 mark in the second overtime. UCSB was given a corner kick that would be taken by freshman defender Kate Shoemaker. As players set up for the play, Shoemaker was able to make the ball travel through the air and Sara Feder made a leaping header to end the match.
“We got a great result and scored some nice goals,” head coach Paul Stumpf said. “I feel like we had to win the game three different times.”
Altogether, UCSB outshot UC Davis 13-5, with a 8-2 shots on goal edge. The 10 corner kicks the Gauchos took were certainly an advantage to them over Davis’ lone corner kick in the first overtime period. The Gauchos were also able to keep their opponent to a pair of goals, as they continue their season-long streak of not allowing more than two in a match.
“Kailey Hacket filled in great for Miranda (who sat out Sunday’s match as a precaution). It was also important getting Chace back. We got six huge conference points this weekend,” said Stumpf.
Next up for UCSB is a weekend road trip to UC Irvine. The Gauchos visit Irvine on October 19 for a Sunday afternoon match at 1:00 p.m. This will be their second to last road trip, before heading north to Cal Poly the following Sunday, October 26.
After dropping both their conference opening games last weekend, the Gauchos rebounded at home versus Hawaii on Friday. In what appeared to be a likely overtime match turned out to be a thrilling win for UCSB.
The match started off with the Gaucho offense taking immediate attack towards the Hawai’i defenders. Within a couple minutes into the match, UCSB was put on top with a goal by sophomore midfielder Sara Feder. A shot led the ball to bounce off the crossbar, allowing Feder to await the ball to come down and strike it into the back of the net for the early 1-0 lead. This was Feder’s third goal of the season.
The Gauchos continued to run down the field and hold possession of the ball while taking near misses around the net. Senior midfielder Geneve Dromensk had the opportunity to add to UCSB’s lead with a few shots, including one that narrowly missed the upper left box and instead skimmed the crossbar to go out of play. Freshman Amanda Ball also had a close shot that was saved by Wahine goalkeeper Erica Young after the two battled for it when it momentarily slipped through Young’s arms.
UCSB came into the second half with the same aggressive approach by taking more shots and corner kicks. However, Hawai’i was able to slide a fast goal in the 62nd minute to tie the game up. Wahine forward Pascua Kama came out of almost nowhere to beat Gaucho defenders and gave goalkeeper Beth Ritter no chance to react to Kama’s swift shot.
The Gauchos faced a scary moment late in the match when defender Miranda Cornejo was knocked down by a Hawai’i player. Players and spectators watched in utter silence as medical staff attended to an unresponsive Cornejo. Kailey Hackett would come in to replace the senior, who has been a rock for the Gauchos in the back field this season.
With time winding down, UCSB maintained their resiliency with a couple late shots. At the 89:51 mark, the ball once again hit the crossbar and fell right in front of the goal box with a bounce putting it back into the air. Madison Beckley, who had came into the match only a few minutes earlier, poised herself for the header that would reach the back of the net and win the match.
“This was a good conference win,” said head coach Paul Stumpf. “Unfortunately we paid a price by possibly losing Miranda to injury. Maybe we should have scored more goals from chances created and it would not have been such a dog fight.”
Overall, UCSB took twice as many shots and shots on goal as Hawai’i with 18-6 and 8-4 advantages. The Gauchos also had an edge in corner kicks, 5-1, that contributed to their offensive attack. The top shooters of the night were Amanda Ball with five, while Sara Feder and Geneve Dromensk each had three among the seven different Gaucho players who struck the ball.
Defensively, Beth Ritter made three saves to hold the match to a close score and drop her goals against average to a 0.89. In 14 regular season games, UCSB has yet to allow an opponent to score more than two goals. The last time this occurred was back in 2006 when they went the entire season not allowing so.
The Gauchos’ next match is on Sunday when they host UC Davis for a 1:00 p.m. match at Harder Stadium.
