LA JOLLA, Calif. (April 22, 2023) — Leigh Lyter scored her sixth hat-trick of the season, and Annie Kuester tallied her fourth of the year as well, but No. 11 UC Santa Barbara (18-10, 2-5 Big West) fell to No. 14 UC San Diego (12-16, 4-3 Big West) in Saturday's regular season finale, 13-10. With the result, the Gauchos will be the No. 6 seed in next weekend's Big West Championship, which UCSB will host.

No. 11 UCSB 10, No. 14 UC San Diego 13
Goalscorers: Leigh Lyter (3), Annie Kuester (3), Imani Clemons (2), Sarah Owens, Delaney Palmer

Lyter and Kuester accounted for all of the Gaucho goals in the first half, with Lyter tallying two in the opening quarter before Kuester added two more in the second. The Tritons led by two, 4-6, at halftime, but the Gauchos kept themselves within that margin for nearly the whole second half. Kuester completed her hat-trick in the third quarter, and Lyter finished hers in the fourth as UCSB continued to battle. Owens scored with just under five minutes left in the game to draw the Gauchos within one, but they would unfortunately get no closer than that.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will be back in action on Friday, April 28 in the first round of the 2023 Big West Championship, hosted at Campus Pool. UCSB holds the No. 6 seed for the tournament, and will face No. 3 seed Long Beach State in the last quarterfinal match of the day, which is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the 1 p.m. match, approximately 3 p.m. Tickets and more information will be available on ucsbgauchos.com on Monday, April 24, once the bracket is finalized.