The UCSB women’s soccer team saw its four-game winning streak come to an end Sunday night at Fresno State, where the Bulldogs came away with the 2-1 victory.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” junior midfielder Erica Perrotta said. “We knew we were going to have to battle the whole 90 minutes because we knew they would be the most competitive of our last five games.”

The Gauchos kept pace with FSU (3-4) throughout the entire first half, matching the Bulldogs with eight shots. Neither team was able to convert however, and the half ended in a scoreless tie.

The legs of the Gaucho kickers appeared to grow weary in the second half, when Fresno was able to capitalize on two defensive breakdowns by Santa Barbara.

The first occurred in the 64th minute of action when Bulldog forward Angela Tafolla scored on a pass from Reyna Green. Only 12 minutes later the Bulldogs found the net again when FSU midfielder Aimee Thompson broke through the middle of the Gauchos’ defense to score what would prove to be the game winner for her squad.

“We definitely did not play [at Fresno] the way that we have been playing,” said senior midfielder Brianna Preis. “We knew what we were going to be facing. We just didn’t play aggressive enough soccer.”

Down by two goals with less than 15 minutes to play, the Gauchos refused to go quietly, fighting back with a score of their own in the 82nd minute of play to avoid the shutout. Freshman forward Jen Borcich rifled a header into the back of the net off of a pass from senior grade position Kim O’Leary.

Borcich has been the player to stop on the Gauchos this past weekend. Not only did she score the lone Santa Barbara goal against Fresno, but she also came away with a hat trick in a 3-1 victory over Weber State on Friday night.

Borcich and the rest of her teammates will look to rebound from this disappointing loss and get back on a winning track with a home game on Friday night. The Gauchos will take on Sacramento State at 6 p.m. at Harder Stadium.