No. 4 UCSB (18-8, 5-0) fell to No. 7 Long Beach State (16-9, 4-2) in a close 12-10 match for third-place at the GCC Tournament.
The Gauchos had already faced the 49ers twice this season, splitting a pair of tightly contested games. The third meeting would prove to be just as highly contested, but it was Long Beach that pulled ahead on Sunday afternoon thanks to attacker Austin Steward, who led all players with four goals.
In each quarter, the Gauchos either matched the 49ers in goals or scored one less, but the GCC's No. 1 seed couldn't find a way to gain an advantage in any period, eventually sealing their fate. Mitchell Hamilton led Santa Barbara's offense with two goals. In the cage Liam Lenihan was busy with nine saves and two steals.
Long Beach came bursting out of the gates with a quick goal at the 7:05 mark off a power play. 15 seconds later, UCSB answered the call with a goal of their own contributed by Samer Alkateb with an assist from Thomas Martinho. Shortly after, the 49ers put in another goal in at 6:21 but the Gauchos answered by firing back with two goals of their own thanks to Tor Jensen and Hamilton. LBSU ended the quarter with one more goal to tie up the game 3-3.
The second quarter was a back-and-forth affair with each team answering each other until Long Beach scored two straight to take a 7-6 lead. Santa Barbara found an equalizer with 28 seconds left in the half thanks to Reed Cotterill, but the 49ers managed to sneak in a goal at the :06
No. 4 UCSB (18-7, 5-0) fell to No. 7 Long Beach State (15-9, 3-2) in a close 12-10 match for third-place at the GCC Tournament.
Everyone game against the 49ers were intense this season and this game was no different, but Long Beach State pulled ahead Sunday afternoon thanks to Attack Austin Steward who led the game with four goals. Each quarter the Gauchos matched the 49ers in goals or was down by one, but the quarters where they were down by one eventually sealed their fate. Mitchell Hamilton led Santa Barbara's offense with two goals. In the cage Liam Lenihan was busy with nine saves and two steals.
In the beginning of the first quarter Long Beach State came bursting out of the gates with a quick goal by the 7:05 mark off a power play. 15 seconds later UCSB answered the call with a goal of their own contributed by Samer Alkateb with an assist from Thomas Martinho. Shortly after the 49ers put in another goal at 6:21 but the Gauchos answered by firing back with two goals of their own thanks to Tor Jensen and Hamilton. LBS finished the quarter with one more goal to tie up the game 3-3.
The second quarter was a brawl with each team answering each other's goals with a goal until Long Beach scored two goals consecutively at the fourth point. Although Santa Barbara tied up the game after that thanks to Reed Cotterill, the 49ers managed to sneak in a goal at the :06 mark, making it 8-7 at the halftime break.
At the start of the second half, Hamilton tied up the score quickly with an assist from Ivan Gvozdanovic at the 7:00 mark. However, LBSU's Stewart had a big quarter, scoring twice to give the 49ers an 11-9 lead at the end of the third.
Neither team was able to find a goal early in the fourth until Spencer Likins put one away with an assist from Shane Hauschild at 4:30 off a power play. Long Beach answered with a big a goal of their own at the 2:59 mark, the last score of the game, giving them the 12-10 victory.
Reed Cotterill was named to the All-GCC Tournament Team after recording one goal and two exclusions in UCSB's two games.
