LA JOLLA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team (5-5, 0-1) opened Big West play at UC San Diego (2-6-2, 1-0) on Wednesday night. The hosting Tritons scored first and held on to their lead, going on to defeat the Gauchos, 3-0.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"Unfortunately, we continue our struggles on the road," Vom Steeg said. "We looked good for the first 20 minutes, and then two mistakes in the back unraveled the game. It did not help to have Alexis (Ledoux) come off the field in the fifth minute of the game."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite Ledoux's early exit, the match began as a relatively even affair, with Mikkel Goeling firing the first shot on target of the night, forcing a save in the eighth minute. By the 20-minute mark, each team had called the other's defense or goalkeeper into action twice to block or save shots, but neither had found the net.
 
That changed shortly, with The Big West's leading scorer, Iñaki Irribaren, scoring his seventh goal of the season for UC San Diego, breaking the deadlock. Three minutes later, a couple unlucky bounces gave the Tritons a golden opportunity to score again, which they took. The Gauchos put two more shots on target before halftime and out-shot their hosts, 7-5, in the first 45 minutes, but it remained a 2-0 Triton lead at the half.
 
The hosts made that 3-0 right on the 55-minute mark, turning home one of only three shots they took in the second half. UC Santa Barbara took twice as many shots in the final 45 minutes, but none of them found the target.
 
Kavi Krishnan had the Gauchos' best opportunity of the match in the 72^nd minute, latching onto a through ball and splitting the defenders before chipping a shot over the goalkeeper. Unfortunately for Krishnan, his shot clanked off the crossbar and stayed out.
 
Dominick Phanco and Kaden Standish each had attempts in the final 10 minutes of the match, but neither midfielder could put the ball on target.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will return home for their next match, hosting UC Irvine on Saturday, September 30 at 7 p.m. at Harder Stadium. The match will also be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.