SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — You can't write scripts much better than the story of Lucas Gonzalez's Sunday evening. UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer's best creative midfielder made his return from an ankle injury that had sidelined him for a month against arch rivals Cal Poly, scoring the game-winning goal in the 82^nd minute as the Gauchos shut out the Mustangs, 1-0. With the result, UC Santa Barbara takes the 2023 Blue-Green Rivalry series by an aggregate score of 3-0.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"This is arguably the toughest place to play because they're on top of you, it's a tight field, it's made even tighter because no one wants to play on the sideline, so it's hard," Vom Steeg said. "Also, it's hard because of the way Cal Poly plays. Literally every ball is just dumped on top of you, so that adds to the fact that a lot of the balls are just challenges, guys fighting for balls. I thought we had a really good spell in the first half, about 20 minutes, I thought we created a couple really good opportunities there in the first half. It became kind of a war of attrition at the end there, and I thought Chava (Aguilar) did a really good job of winning that ball in the box, playing it across to Lucas, and Lucas, again, it's nice to have him back."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Before hitting their stride for that good spell in the first half, the Gauchos had to dodge some bullets, as early slips and bad passes gave the Mustangs a couple good looks at goal in the first 15 minutes, but the hosts could not convert. Cal Poly managed just one shot on target in the entire first half, coming off a free kick in the 40^th minute. It was a goal-mouth scramble and while a Mustang did get their foot to the ball, Santa Barbara goalkeeper Leroy Zeller was in the perfect position to make the stop.
 
While Cal Poly had enjoyed the majority of time on the ball in the first quarter of an hour, the momentum flipped when Gonzalez entered the field. The Gauchos' number 10 played his first minutes since September 19 on Sunday and nearly made an instant impact. He played a perfectly weighted through ball to Alexis Ledoux in the 20^th minute, setting up a one-on-one, but Ledoux's shot was saved. Two minutes later, Pablo Figueroa connected with a cross point-blank at the back post but that was saved as well.
 
The teams went into their locker rooms without a goal to speak of after 45 minutes, and it looked like Cal Poly was going to be the team to break the deadlock early in the second half, if not for a handful of clutch defensive plays from the Gauchos.
 
Filip Basili toed the line of fearlessness and reckless abandon on Sunday night and was crucial to preserving the shutout, making multiple clutch tackles and clearances inside his own penalty area. Caden Vom Steeg made a big block himself in the 48^th minute after a breakaway, and Johannes Vedin made two blocks in a row in the 57^th. Just two minutes earlier, the Gauchos dodged a major bullet when their offside trap went wrong, leaving a Cal Poly forward one-on-one with Zeller. He did enough to keep the game scoreless, and the defense recovered.
 
The match leveled out as time ticked off the clock in the second half, with Nemo Philipp getting a couple good chances to score. In the 66^th minute, the German won a header no more than eight yards from goal, but sent it just wide. The breakthrough would not come until the final minutes of the match.
 
It started with Eddie Villeda winning a tackle deep in the Gauchos' own end. Some slick one-touch passing in midfield sparked the counterattack, with Santa Barbara moving the ball ahead to Ledoux. He played a perfect pass into the path of Salvador Aguilar, who was running into the penalty area. Aguilar was brought down, and since the referee did not call a foul, Aguilar passed the ball across the face of goal to Gonzalez, who just had to tap it in.
 
As Cal Poly hunted for an equalizer in the final minutes, the intensity at Mustang Memorial Field was cranked up a notch. Any challenge inside the Gauchos' penalty area had the Cal Poly fans roaring for a spot kick, but none came. There was a boil over in the 86^th minute, which led to yellow cards for both Vedin and the opposing striker, and a minute later Zeller had to make one more big save to secure victory. Zeller knocked down a long-distance rocket of a shot, then watched as the rebound was sent wide for a goal kick. It was the Mustangs' last shot of the game.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara returns home for their next match, hosting Sacramento State on Wednesday, October 18 at 7 p.m. Wednesday night is Senior Night at Harder Stadium, and the Gauchos will celebrate their five graduating players before the contest. For fans following from afar, the match will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.