Courtesy of UCSB Athletics

Benches clearing, twice. Dramatic goalline saves. Three statement goals. What may have been the most exciting game of the season for the men’s soccer team almost turned sour before the final whistle sounded, but relief overcame every player as the raucous atmosphere at Harder Stadium relished in the team’s Big West Championship game-clinching victory. Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg and his guys got their sweet revenge against UC Davis, who defeated Santa Barbara 2-0 in the Big West Championship in 2024. This time around, the Gauchos packed the scoring punch they desperately needed last season.

Davis sophomore midfielder Ben Elkins opened the scoring at the 38th minute, and the Aggies kept the 1-0 lead into the half. Needing a spark, Vom Steeg started graduate forward Buba Fofanah in the second half, showing his pace and on-ball skill to stretch the Aggie defense. 

Vom Steeg likened the changing philosophy to their comeback draw against California State University, Northridge earlier in the year, when a shift in the team’s play was needed to claw their way back into a game. 

“We opened the thing up, we might give something up, like a second goal, but if we force Davis to run up and down the field with us, it’s gonna create openings for us.” 

In the game against Northridge, the team had to come back from a one-goal halftime deficit as well as playing with only 10 men from the 40th minute onward when sophomore midfielder Jack Middleton received a second yellow. Against Northridge, the Gauchos could only muster an equalizer for a draw — but against Davis, with an even playing field, they drew level and then some. 

Calle Mollerberg, a sophomore defender who received the Big West Defensive Player of the Year honors, tapped in the equalizer out of a messy scrum at the goalline off of a Gaucho corner kick at the 57th minute — and it was off to the races for the Santa Barbara attack. 

Standout junior midfielder Kaden Standish scored the go-ahead goal at the 60th minute, mere moments after their first, on a magnificent strike that upped his tally on the season to three. 

Standish dedicated the goal to his grandfather, who had just recently passed away.

 “He always supported me, he went to all my games, he was always watching on ESPN+ and the last thing he said to me was ‘I am proud of you,’” Standish shared after displaying a dedicatory wrist tape in his grandfather’s honor in the postgame presser. “So a lot of that is what pushes me to be a little bit better knowing that, going into this game, if I don’t give everything, it’s kind of letting him down, letting my family down, letting my team down.” 

With the energy escalating as the third goal of the night came from an especially unlikely source, the top blew off of Harder Stadium at the 69th minute. Junior midfielder Dominick Phanco, subbed into just his fourth game of the season this year, broke on a run to the left side of the box as Fofanah chased after a weighted pass down the right flank. Fofanah whipped a low cross through the box, and sophomore striker Zac Siebenlist executed a perfect dummy, drawing the goalkeeper off his line as the ball rolled past him to Phanco.

 “I was screaming at Zac to let the ball go,” Phanco said with a laugh. “I was like, please, please leave it, I was wide open and then just tucked it in, near post.” 

It was the first career goal for Phanco, resulting in his team emptying the bench to mob him on the pitch in the ecstatic aftermath of the score. 

The defense stayed stout, and freshman goalkeeper Owen Beninga made acrobatic save after  save for his team the entire game, ending the night with six to his name. UCD star senior forward Cason Goodman netted his sixth goal of the season to make it 3-2 at the 81st minute, assisted by his twin brother Luke Goodman, defender, and senior defender Gavin House. 

The last, decisive save for Beninga came at the 89th minute when an Aggie shot came inches from the goalline, and Beninga had to stretch every fiber of his body toward the ball, batting it away past the post with his outstretched fingertips. 

Tensions ran high through the entire game, with the bench clearing for a second time for the Gauchos as they swarmed to defend their captain Mollerberg, who was engaged in a shoving match with a Davis opponent as the final whistle blew and frustration boiled over for the losing side. With a combined 28 fouls and six yellow cards between the teams, including yellows to the Davis coaching staff, it was a chippy affair the whole 90 minutes. 

Thanks to the electric victory on Saturday, the Gauchos will host their own Big West title bout this Friday, Nov. 14 against the UC Irvine Anteaters at Harder Stadium under the lights. The game has serious implications for the rest of their season, as victory will secure a spot in the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row for Vom Steeg’s men, and 16th of his storied time running the men’s soccer program.