One day removed from a 20-10 loss against No. 4 Cal, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara (9-11, 0-6 MPSF) aimed to rebound against No. 8 Pacific (13-9, 1-4 MPSF) at Chris Kjeldsen Pool on Sunday. Despite a two goal performance from freshman Shane Hauschild, and another solid performance in the cage by Chris Whitelegge, Santa Barbara suffered a narrow defeat to the Tigers.
Both teams are familiar with one another as today’s contest was the third meeting of the season. Santa Barbara tallied a 9-7 victory earlier in the season, but Pacific recorded a win of their own with a 8-7 score on Oct. 12th.
The Tigers held the edge in the opening moments of the match as the home team jumped out to a 1-0 lead off a 6:06 goal. Hauschild tied the match as the 6-5 freshman rose up and struck a 2:56 score. Pacific carried the momentum in the closing minutes of the opening period as the Tigers struck back-to-back goals to lead, 3-1, at conclusion of the first period.
After another opening goal from the Tigers, UCSB gained some ground as the team netted two unanswered scores. Junior Kevin Cappon started the mini rally with his 6:26 score while Hauschild tallied his second goal of the match shortly after. Pacific once again stretched its lead to two goals, but a 6-on-5 goal by Ryan Baliani trimmed the Tigers lead to 5-4. With :27 seconds remaining in the half and awarded a power play, UCSB capitalized and tied the game, 5-5, off a goal from junior Liam Gaughan.
The third period was filled with fouls, exclusions, and an unfortunate penalty that gave the Tigers a penalty shot. Awarded a five meter penalty shot, Pacific regained its lead at the 2:27 mark. UCSB answered right back as junior Samer Alkateb tied the match with a two meter goal.
Trailing Pacific by the score of 7-6, UCSB pulled even with a 4:36 score. Senior Brendan McElroy added his 16th goal of the season to tie the match, 7-7. With one more goal from Pacific, the Gauchos were ultimately unable to prevail in the tight match as the team lost a 8-7 decision.
Hauschild led the Gauchos offense in today’s match with two more goals while five other Gauchos tallied one goal apiece. Junior goalie Chris Whitelegge added 10 saves along with a steal and an assist in today’s action.
UCSB will return home for next weekend’s action as the squad will play its final home matches of the season next Saturday, Nov. 8, at noon against No. 11 Pepperdine and Concordia at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s match with Cal turned out to be a high-scoring matchup.
After a solid first half of play, Santa Barbara faltered in the remaining 16 minutes of the match, conceding 14 goals in the second half to suffer a 20-10 loss.
The opening moments of the match started in favor for the Gauchos as the team jumped to a 2-1 lead. After Cal tied it 2-2, at the 3:30 mark, the Golden Bears catapulted themselves to a 5-2 lead with four unanswered goals to close the opening frame of the contest.
The second period belonged to UCSB as the team outscored the Golden Bears, 3-1, in the quarter. Highlighted by Hauschild’s last second goal, the Gauchos trailed, 6-5, at the end of the first half.
After answering every call in the first two periods of action, the Gauchos defense could not provide an answer to Cal’s offense. Scoring only one goal in the third frame, the Golden Bears put away six scores. The final period of the match sealed the deal for the Pac-12 program as the team netted an overwhelming eight goals in the period compared to Santa Barbara’s four scores.
Two meter presence Nicholas Jordan led the Gauchos offense on the day with three goals. The 6-7 junior now has 12 goals so far in the season. Hauschild had another productive day as the Santa Barbara native scored two goals.
Saturday’s match was one to forget for the defense as the Gauchos conceded its highest total of goals scored against themselves this season. Whitelegge tallied 12 saves on the day along with a single steal.
Pacific 8, UCSB 7
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Pacific | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| UCSB | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
Pacific Goals: Devon Thumwood (3) Krisztlan Laczkovics (2) J.T. Sarmento, Ben Stevenson, Ikko Saito
Pacific Saves: Chris Hughes (5)
UCSB Goals: Shane Hauschild (2) Kevin Cappon, Ryan Baliani, Brendan McElroy, Liam Gaughan, Samer Alkateb
UCSB Saves: Chris Whitelegge (10)
Cal 20, UCSB 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Cal | 5 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 20 |
| UCSB | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
Cal Goals: Luca Cupido (5) Aleksa Saponjic (3) J.D Ratchford (3) Colin Mulcahy (2) Luka Ivanovic, Conor Neumann, Blake Kelly, Farrell South, Matt Russell, Nicholas Carniglia, Connor Reid
Cal Saves: Jon Sibley (5)
UCSB Goals: Nicholas Jordan (3) Shane Hauschild (2) Kevin Cappon, Brendan McElroy, Bryan Snyder, Ryan Baliani, Liam Gaughan
UCSB Saves: Chris Whitelegge (12)
