Box Score SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara men's soccer team (7-3-3, 3-0-1 Big West) defeated CSU Bakersfield 3-0 on Saturday night at Harder Stadium to earn sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference table.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Senior forward Ameyawu Muntari kicked off the scoring in the 21st minute, picking up a pass from sophomore midfielder Rigoberto Barragan at the top of the box on the left side before dribbling between two CSU Bakersfield defenders and shooting on his right foot to score his fifth goal of the season.
- After the kickoff from Muntari's goal, the Gauchos got the ball back and passed it around the backline before advancing it into midfield, where junior forward Thaabit Baartman picked up the ball and played it ahead to freshman attacker Salvador Aguilar. The Bakersfield defender marking Aguilar misplayed the ball, hitting it past his oncoming goalkeeper, leaving the visiting team's net empty for Aguilar to score the Gauchos' second goal into.
- In the 43rd minute, sophomore forward Finn Ballard McBride slotted a deflected shot from freshman midfielder Ramses Martinez off his left foot past a CSU Bakersfield defender and his goalkeeper to put UCSB up 3-0.
NOTABLE
- Sophomore goalkeeper Leroy Zeller and the Gaucho defense earned their fourth clean sheet of the year. Zeller made three sensational saves in the second half to preserve the shutout.
- With the win, the Gauchos move into sole possession of first place in the Big West on 10 points, by virtue of Cal Poly's 1-0 loss to UC Irvine. There is now a three-way tie for second place, with the Mustangs sharing the spot with UC Irvine and CSUN.
- UCSB narrowly outshot CSU Bakersfield 15-14.
QUOTABLE
- "We knew it wasn't good enough from us. The most frustrating thing is that it was [about] energy. You can have a bad game here or there, but we can control our energy... we really wanted to bounce back quick, and that's a pro of playing so many games... you get to do it again three days later. I thought it was important that we started fast, got some early goals, which helped. The energy was better and it led to goals, which was nice." – UCSB junior center back Henry Davies on the contrast between Wednesday's 2OT draw against UC Irvine and the 3-0 win tonight.
UP NEXT
- The Gauchos head to UC San Diego for a Wednesday night matchup with the Tritons. The game is scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. It will be streamed live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on UCSBGauchos.com.
Install the new UCSB Gaucho Gameday app on your smartphone for exclusive UCSB coverage all season long. Now available on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
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