The UCSB women’s soccer team split matches this weekend, beating St. Josephs 5-1 at home on Friday night but suffering its first defeat of the season on Sunday after falling 4-1 to the University of San Francisco on the road.
“We had a hard time adjusting to the different field, but its something we need to get used to because a lot of our games are on the road,” junior forward Kailyn Kugler said. “I think this unfortunate result will prepare us well for the future.”
Gaucho junior forward Kailyn Kugler breaks past a St. Joseph defender on Friday evening at Harder Stadium. The squad beat the Hawks 5-1 on Friday but lost at the University of San Francisco 4-1 on Sunday.
[/media-credit]
UCSB would go a goal down early in the game when USF senior midfielder Lauren Maris beat sophomore goalkeeper Taylor Gonzalez from the top of the box in the 28th minute. Don freshman forward Hanna Haanes would make it 2-0 just ten minutes later after heading in a free kick from inside the six-yard box. The Dons would make the score 3-0 in the 60th minute when their forward Molly Hall found the back of the net.
In Friday’s win against St. Josephs, the Guacho fans at Harder Stadium barely had time to sit down before junior forward Alissa Sanchez gave UCSB a 1-0 lead 1:04 into the match. St. Joseph’s would equalize in the seventh minute when its forward, Mo Hawkins, found the left side of the goal, but Gaucho midfielder Erin Ortega would give the Gauchos the lead late in the first half when she shot home two goals, the first of which was assisted by freshman midfielder Erica Shelton.
“Erin has always been a great player,” Kugler said. “She had two big goals for us [Friday].”
Ortega’s second goal came just five minutes later when she collected a loose ball deep in St. Joseph’s side of the field and scored from around twenty yards out. Shelton would have a goal of her own in the 51st minute as she redirected a through ball from senior midfielder Jacqui Simon into the top shelf of the goal.
“We did a great job of dictating the flow of the game [on Friday],” Gaucho head coach Paul Stumpf. “We’ve found out this year that we basically have twenty-six great players and are really two teams deep.”
The Gauchos capped off the game with their fifth goal when senior forward Kylie McDonald forced fellow senior forward Jessie Edmonds’ corner kick into the goal from about five yards out. The Hawk’s sophomore goalie Christine Neal saved six goal attempts in the match. UCSB played all three of its goalies, who tallied one save each.
The Gauchos will continue their five-game road trip in Minneapolis, where they will face Minnesota on Sept. 3 and Marquette on Sept. 5 at 5 p.m. and 8:30 a.m., respectively.
