NEW HAVEN, Conn. – No. 17 UC Santa Barbara dominated Yale on the road on Friday afternoon, securing a 2-0 win at Reese stadium behind goals from junior midfielder Andy Perez and junior forward Nick DePuy, who found the back of the net for the 13th time in his last 17 appearances for the Gauchos.
It was a continuation of tradition for UCSB (2-1-1), which has usually played well in out-of-state matches, going 12-2-2 since the start of the 2008 season.
Absolutely controlling the run of play, the Gauchos ended up outshooting the Bulldogs (0-3-0) 21-6 in the contest, including a 13-1 advantage in the first half.
Perez was the benefactor of UCSB’s strong play, notching his first goal of the season in just the 18th minute.
With a large contingent of Gauchos in the penalty area, Perez was there to finish off a cross from Ahinga Selemani after the sophomore forward linked up with Ismaila Jome down the left wing.
Receiving a secondary assist on the goal, Jome now has helpers in four of his past five games.
Despite a flurry of shots and scoring chances over the remaining thirty minutes of the opening interval, UCSB couldn’t increase its lead and thus took a 1-0 lead into the halftime break for the third consecutive contest.
Despite not dominating in the same fashion to open the second half, the Gauchos were still able to add an insurance goal via DePuy in the 71st minute.
Once again getting significant numbers forward, UCSB’s control of possession once again allowed them to take advantage of the Bulldogs.
With freshman Kosti Moni ranging forward, the forward-midfield hybrid sent a pass towards Yale goalkeeper Ryan Simpson. The aggressive Simpson came out to try and cut off the dangerous ball, but DePuy beat him to it and dribbled around him before calmly slotting into the net.
It was DePuy’s third goal of the season and 13th of his career.
Despite not finding the twine, Selemani had another fine offensive day with five shots, tying him with DePuy for the conference lead at 15 on the young season.
In his return from national duty, freshman keeper Justin Vom Steeg made one save and improved his personal record to 2-0-0. He spent last weekend with the U.S. U-20 National Team, making appearances against Serbia and Israel, including a clean sheet against the latter.
His counterpart, Simpson, was busy on the day, making five saves.
UCSB wraps up its season long four-game, two-week road swing with a contest at UConn on Sunday afternoon. Kick off is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Pacific time.
