STOCKTON, Calif. (Aug. 27, 2023) - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team (1-1-2) suffered their first loss of the season to the University of Pacific (2-1-1) on Sunday afternoon. The Gauchos opened the scoring in the 23rd minute, but it was the Tigers that scored three unanswered to win the match.

"This was the first time we got out possessed this year," said Stumpf. "We did have some nice possession, but it broke down in the attacking third. I'm unsure if it was a composure thing, or it might have been execution. The discussion we had following the game was positive and we will take what we've learned from this match and try to get better!" 

UC Santa Barbara opened up the match quickly, creating multiple chances and possessing the ball for the majority of the first 10 minutes of play. Lauren Helwig nearly beat the keeper in the fourth minute of the match but found the crossbar instead. The momentum switched to Pacific after they drove down the field and were awarded a corner, The Tigers would get a shot off but Sabrina Hinz would record a save. A couple minutes later Hinz came up with another save that ultimately led to the first goal of the match.

After regaining possession from the second Tiger shot, the Gauchos created two scoring chances of their own. Haley Phillips took a shot that was saved but less than 60 seconds later Phillips found Manuri Alwis on the right side of the box and netted the first goal of the game. 

After a couple of substitutions on both sides the Tigers quickly created more chances and found the back of the net in the 31st minute to tie the game. After some more substitutions following the goal, UC Santa Barbara and Pacific played evenly in the final 14 minutes of the first half and went to the locker room tied. 

Coming out of halftime the Gauchos made a goalkeeper change and Taylor Little would enter the game in goal. The Tigers continued to create chances but Taylor Little would deny them of finding the back of the net. That was until the 72nd minute when Pacific would take the lead and never look back. 

The Gauchos could not re-establish themselves in the match and ultimately fell 3-1 after Pacific sealed the game with another goal in the 89th minute. 

UC Santa Barbara will be back in action on Thursday, Aug. 31 as they travel to the Midwest and take on Nebraska - Omaha. The match is set to begin at 3 p.m. Pacific time. For those unable to make the trip the game will be streamed through the Summit League Network with live stats available through omavs.com