SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – No. 13 UCSB (12-10) battled No. 3 Stanford (15-2) closely in a contentious first half, but the Cardinal would pull away with 10 second half goals to take the 16-5 decision at Campus Pool.
Taylor Shore's first half hat trick led the Gauchos, as Bryn Hudson and Brenna Thomas also added one goal apiece. Coming into the game with the most steals of any Gaucho, Shore assumed a familiar role as the team's steals leader with two.
In the cage, Mackenzie Brokaw made eight saves and also added an assist and steal.
UCSB was fired up from the opening sprint, as the registered the first two goals of the game to go up 2-0 by the 6:29 mark. The Gauchos found those scores in each of their opening two possessions with Thomas delivering a hard skip shot from straight on and Shore firing her shot off the left post from seven meters out. Shore's goal prompted a four-player substitution for Stanford.
The change in the pool worked out for the Cardinal, as they responded to UCSB's 2-0 run with three unanswered of their own heading by the end of the quarter.
Facing a 3-2 Stanford lead, the Gauchos rediscovered their spark early in the second quarter. First, Brokaw found a wide-open Shore who sprinted her way past the entire Stanford defense in transition and easily scored on her one-on-one matchup with the goalkeeper Julia Hermann.
And Shore was not done yet, as just 32 seconds later she drove deep past her defender and registered the point blank shot to reclaim the lead for the Gauchos at 4-3 with 6:25 left in the half.
However, that goal would prove to be UCSB's last until the third quarter, as Stanford finished the first half with another 3-0 run, claiming a 6-4 halftime lead.
The Cardinal continued to apply the scoring pressure as soon as the third quarter opened, as Madison Berggren dished a sharp pass through a crowd of UCSB defenders to Shannon Cleary for the inside goal. Stanford would tack on one more score before the Gauchos used a timeout at the 2:38 mark with a 6-on-5 advantage.
Regrouped, UCSB capitalized with their extra player, as Hudson hugged her left-handed shot on the near post just as the power play was ending. That goal made the score 8-5, but it was the closest UCSB would get the rest of the game as Stanford closed out the contest with eight straight goals.
The Gauchos will continue its season on Sunday April 3 when they will open Big West play at UC Irvine starting at 12 p.m.
