SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Aug. 25, 2023) — UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer (0-1-0) had chances to score in the first half of Friday's match but just could not find the decisive touch, then the visiting Oral Roberts (1-0-0) blew the game wide open in the second half, taking the 2023 season opener at Harder Stadium, 4-0. It is only the second time the Gauchos have lost a season opener at home in the Tim Vom Steeg era, though Vom Steeg was not on the sidelines Friday as he served a one-game suspension after being dismissed in the 2022 season finale.
 
FROM ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH GREG WILSON
"I think the fact that Pacific is on Monday is probably the best thing going right now because we can quickly put this in our rear-view mirror and try to get after some things," Wilson said after the match. "We had some good moments early in this game, you know, we had Timon (Windisch) back stick and a couple other really good looks, and goals change games …. Obviously when we got up against it we would have liked our response to be different, but we can fix those things as we go along, it's early, so we'll just get back to it tomorrow."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The match was anything but a blowout early, as both teams got physical with each other out of the gate, combining to commit six fouls in the first 10 minutes, with a Golden Eagle going into the referee's book as well. As the match settled down, it was the Gauchos who had the first good scoring chances. Nemo Philipp forced a pair of saves shortly after the 20-minute mark with hard, low, left-footed attempts, and Timon Windisch got a clean header at the back post which he hammered into the ground only to watch it bounce harmlessly over the goal.
 
Two minutes after Windisch's miss, Oral Roberts scored the game's opening goal, and they would take that 1-0 lead — and the momentum— into halftime. Before the interval, the visitors forced Santa Barbara goalkeeper Leroy Zeller to make a pair of saves.
 
The Gauchos had two great chances to tie the game right after halftime, with Alexis Ledoux getting on the end of the first attack of the half only to spray his header wide, and Nicolas Willumsen doing the same with his headed attempt in the 48^th minute.
 
From there, Oral Roberts re-established themselves in the match, and the visitors took control with goals in quick succession in the 62^nd and 66^th minutes. A fourth goal in the 77^th minute sealed the outcome.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will look to bounce back on Monday, August 28 as they host Pacific at Harder Stadium. The Tigers are coming off a 2-1 win over UC San Diego in La Jolla. Monday's match will kick off at 7 p.m. with a live broadcast on ESPN+ and live stats on ucsbgauchos.com.