Box Score Santa Barbara, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara women's soccer team was bested by visiting Cal State Fullerton Thursday night as the Gauchos dropped their last regular season home game 4-2.
The start of the first half saw both teams compete for possession and make close plays on each side of the field. Cal State Fullerton (7-7-4, 5-0-2) would be the first to strike in the 15th minute. Titan Amanda Howard would take a shot that deflected off the crossbar and back into play allowing Connie Caliz to boot the ball into the net.
UCSB would answer with its own goal five minutes later. After a corner kick from Geneve Dromensk, a group of players poised themselves for the ball to land. Sophomore defender Sydney Fuertes happened to be at the right spot in the back of that group as the ball dropped in front of her. Fuertes quickly knocked the ball in before any Titan players had time to react. This was the first goal of the season for Fuertes.
As time winded, it appeared the Gauchos and Titans would go into the half with a tie. The Titans ensured this would not be the case with another goal. With action taking place around the UCSB penalty box, Lauren Stupin found Christina Burkenroad to put Cal State Fullerton up 2-1.
The Gauchos entered the second half looking toward scoring another equalizer and in the 55th minute they did just that. Sara Feder started the scoring drive by beating out a few Titan defenders for the ball and making a well-executed cross to sophomore Dakota Griggs. Griggs then set herself up and steered the ball to find the corner of the net.
Cal State Fullerton would not allow any more goals in the match and take back the lead. The Titans would take advantage of a Gaucho foul in the 65th minute giving Fullerton a free kick. Morgan Batcheller would send the ball in the direction of Serena Smith-Banas, who was standing in front of the goal box, and put the Titans back up.
The Titans would add to their score at the 76:38 mark with another Burkenroad goal. The Titan forward ran her way down the middle of the field with Gaucho defenders trying to keep pace. As she neared the penalty box, Burkenroad launched the ball from 12 yards out into the top left corner of the net to seal Fullerton's 4-2 win.
In the whole match, UCSB outshot Fullerton 11-9 overall but was edged 5-3 in shots on-frame. All six senior players made the start for UCSB after being honored prior to the match. Overall, UCSB completes the season with a 8-9-2 record and 2-6 mark in Big West Conference play.
