Borrowing a travel tip from the men’s team, the UCSB women’s soccer team took a red eye flight to Michigan last Wednesday night to get an extra day’s rest to prepare for their pair of matches this past weekend.

The extra rest immediately paid dividends as UCSB got off to a quick start, defeating Oakland University 2-0 on Friday before falling to Michigan State 4-1 on Sunday, bringing the Gauchos’ record to 3-4-1 on the season.

“We came out pretty strong on Friday night,” Head Coach Paul Stumpf said. “In the first half we outshot them 19-4, which is great.”

In all, the Gauchos out-shot Oakland 27-7, 10-1 on goal. Junior midfielder Dyanne Anderson’s team-leading fourth goal of the season solidified the victory for the Gauchos in the 57th minute, putting the team up 2-0. Sunday’s match proved to be a harder task for the Gauchos, as Michigan State was led by junior forward Olivia Stander’s two goals. Freshman forward Indiana Mead converted on a chance to tie the game for UCSB with her first career goal in the 30th minute, but the Spartans responded by ringing off three straight goals of their own. Overall, UCSB was out-shot 14-7 during the 6-3 Spartan victory.

“We just came up against a very good team in Michigan State,” Stumpf said.

UCSB sophomore goalkeeper Makenna Henry made three saves on seven shots on goal over the weekend. Despite their 34 shots over the weekend with 13 on goal, the Gauchos scored only three goals.

“We did really well because we got so many shots off,” Anderson said. “We just need to work on getting those shots in. Offensively we did really well, we just need to now work on getting them in the back of the net.”

Battling the injury bug, the defense proved resilient this weekend, finally getting key players back on the field. Senior defenders Nicole Romanowski and Alyssa Benjamin, both out last week with injuries, made their way back to the pitch in Michigan this weekend.

“We are slowly but surely getting healthy again,” Stumpf said. “I’m really happy with where we’re at right now.”

UCSB returns home when they host No. 9 Pepperdine on Friday and Nevada on Sunday. Kickoff on Friday is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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