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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – As the final minutes in the second overtime period of the Big West Championship semifinal between the UC Santa Barbara men's soccer team and UC Davis ticked away towards a penalty kick shootout to break the stalemate, sophomore forward Nemo Philipp saw an opening and danced through the Aggie defense to break into the penalty area and place a shot into the right side of goal to send the Gauchos into the tournament final next weekend.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first half was all UC Davis as the Aggies outshot UCSB 6-1, putting three shots on target that were all saved by Gaucho goalkeeper Leroy Zeller.
- The Gauchos roared back in the second half with a dominant half-hour spell, but could not hit the back of the net. UCSB had several opportunities that fizzled out in the final third, including a few crosses that zipped across the six-yard box but failed to connect.
- The game trickled into overtime and neither team put together anything noteworthy as the game trudged on toward penalties to decide a winner, until Philipp picked up a pass in the final third and slalomed his way into the 18-yard box and put away the golden goal on his left foot, his second of the year.
NOTABLE
- Zeller and the Gaucho defense earned their eighth clean sheet of the season in the win.
- UCSB is in the Big West Championship Final for the second consecutive season.
QUOTABLE
UP NEXT
- The Gauchos will take on second-seeded UC Irvine next Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at Harder Stadium. The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available on UCSBGauchos.com. Students get in free to all home Big West Championship events.
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