Fans were on the edge of their seats at Harder Stadium this past weekend as the UCSB women’s soccer team played two overtime matches against UC Davis and the University of the Pacific to begin the Big West conference season.

With a heartbreaking 2-1 loss against Davis on Friday, the Gauchos managed to salvage a 3-3 draw against Pacific Sunday afternoon, bringing their record to 3-7-2 overall and 0-1-1 in conference.

“We got a point in conference and that is something you can build on for the next few weeks,” Head Coach Paul Stumpf said. “I think the team probably learned some valuable lessons from this weekend.”

UCSB closed its homestand Sunday with a come-from-behind draw against Pacific. The Gauchos led 1-0 in the first half on a goal by sophomore midfielder/forward Indiana Mead before the Tigers countered by scoring two goals of their own.

After the Tigers were up 3-1 in the 55th minute, another goal gave the Gauchos life. With three minutes left in regulation, senior midfielder/forward Dyanne Anderson crossed a ball into the box that was headed in by freshman midfielder Sara Feder to tie the match at three goals apiece.

Despite opportunities for both teams in overtime, each side failed to convert and settled for one point each in the standings.

“[The 3-3 draw] shows we are a strong team,” Anderson said. “We don’t let it get in our heads when we are down.”

Conference play began Friday night as the Gauchos hosted Davis in a back-and-forth battle. Despite outshooting the Aggies eight to three in the first half, UCSB was unable to score and went into the half with a 0-0 draw.

Davis regrouped in the second half, going on the offensive, but it wasn’t until the 76th minute when a careless pass back to Henry was intercepted in the box by the Aggies’ senior forward Allison Kelly, who easily put away the goal for a 1-0 lead. With four minutes left in regulation, sophomore midfielder/forward Madison Beckley scored a header on a cross in the box by Anderson to send the game into overtime.

“[Anderson] played a nice ball in, and I just happened to be there to finish it,” Beckley said.

In the eighth minute of overtime, UCSB suffered another defensive miscue as a deflected ball ended up behind Henry and freshman midfielder/forward Sienna Drizin sealed the 2-1 win for the Aggies, scoring on an open net.

“It was a little unfortunate [that] it went off the defender and straight to [Drizin]. That’s just the way it goes.”

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