IRVINE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team met UC Irvine in The Big West Semifinal for a second year in a row on Saturday night. Like the 2022 edition, this year's semifinal was decided by a 2-1 scoreline, in favor of the hosts. However, unlike last year, the Gauchos were not hosting. Two late goals ended UC Santa Barbara's season, making this the first time since 2018 that the Gauchos have not reached the final match of The Big West Championship.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half of action was largely played out in the midfield and the Gauchos' side of the field, with the Anteaters pressing high. Haruki Utsumi did well to knock aside a dangerous low cross early, and then UC Santa Barbara began to create more chances for themselves. Unfortunately for the visiting Gauchos, those chances ended up being only "nearly" moments.
 
Nicolas Willumsen got a look at goal in the eighth minute on a breakaway, but put his shot wide. Caden Vom Steeg's cross just missed a Gaucho head in the 15^th minute, and Nemo Philipp just narrowly failed to find a teammate on low crosses in the 17^th and 19^th minutes.
 
UC Irvine had some nearly moments themselves, with Santa Barbara goalkeeper Leroy Zeller having to tip an arcing ball over the crossbar in the 27^th minute. The resulting corner eventually led to a tame Anteater shot, which Zeller smothered. He was called into action again in the 37^th minute, racing off his line and beating an Anteater forward to what could have been a dangerous through ball.
 
UCI's keeper had to do some scrambling himself in the 41^st minute, as Salvador Aguilar fired a shot with the Anteaters' netminder out of position, but the shot was saved. Zeller provided a similar combination of heroics and luck just before halftime, saving a low long-range shot, then watching as the reboud was skied over the bar, leaving the score tied, 0-0, at halftime.
 
The Gauchos the better chances to start half number two, with Anteater defenders having to get in the way of a couple shots from Vom Steeg and Mikkel Goeling five minutes into the second 45. Just over five minutes later, UC Santa Barbara finally broke through, courtesy of Philipp's left foot. The German fired a laser beam of a shot from just under 25 yards out, into the far top corner, putting the Gauchos in front. When the game kicked off again, he nearly doubled the advantage with the exact same shot from the exact same position, but UC Irvine's keeper made the save this time, at full stretch.
 
After that, the flow of the game largely returned to how it was in the first half: chippy, dominated by the battle for control of the midfield, and full of near misses rather than goals. Filip Basili was inches away from doubling the Santa Barbara lead in the 63^rd minute, but the Norwegian's shot was the wrong side of the post.
 
Five minutes after that unlucky miss, the Gauchos were undone by an unlucky whiff. A misplayed ball in the Santa Barbara defensive line gave the Anteaters a clear look on goal, which they capitalized on to level the match. Things went from bad to worse in the 79^th minute, as the Anteaters put together one of their longest, most flowing passing moves of the game, ending it with the go-ahead goal.
 
Santa Barbara then committed everyone forward, needing to find an equalizing score in 10 minutes, but they had to thank Johannes Vedin for keeping the deficit at just one. The Swedish centerback made an excellent intervention in the 83^rd minute, shutting down an Anteater counterattack that could have put the game away.
 
The Gauchos worked to break through the UC Irvine line as the clock continued to work against them, but found few solutions. One of Santa Barbara's best chances would have been a penalty kick, which they had a case for in the 86^th minute as Aguilar was pulled down, but the referee kept his whistle silent.