On Sunday, Oct. 5, the UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer team had a Big West conference championship rematch with California State University, Bakersfield. This match resulted in a 1-0 win for UCSB, who remains undefeated in the Big West conference season with a record of 2-0-2. 

To start the first half, the Gauchos came out strong offensively and did well to keep the ball from the Cal State Bakersfield (CSUB) Roadrunners and out of harm’s way. The Gauchos had maintained possession for 65% of the first half and kept the ball on the Roadrunners’ side of the field with a total of four corner kicks.

UCSB had a total of eight shots in the first half including 3 from senior forward Haley Phillips, who found the back of the net on her final shot of the half in the 41st minute assisted by sophomore midfielder Ava Jarolimek. This goal put the Gauchos up 1-0 at the half time whistle. The goal was Phillips’ third of her strong start to the 2025 season as the last came against California Polytechnic State University in a 3-1 win.

In the second half, UCSB had to shift the gameplan to be more defensively focused as Bakersfield was noticeably picking up the pace in search of an equalizer. CSUB had totaled 11 shots in only the second half. 5 of those shots were on target and saved by junior goalkeeper Maddie Buckley. Even though the Roadrunners were playing aggressively, the Gauchos still managed to find opportunities in the second half of the game; at the final whistle, they had a total of 13 shots in this game with 5 of those being on target. UCSB was able to hold on to the very end to give themselves the 1-0 win against the Roadrunners. 

With this win, UCSB now sits at third in the Big West conference with a 9-2-3 overall record. The Gauchos look to use this momentum as they head into even more conference matchups.

The UCSB women’s soccer team will next play against California State University, Fullerton, also undefeated, on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. in a tough matchup.