SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team will settle back into town for two matches this week. The Gauchos will kick off the week on Oct. 3 against Long Beach State which gets underway at 6 pm, followed by another in-state matchup against UC Irvine on Oct. 6 at 12 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara hosted UC San Diego on Sept. 26 where the Gauchos were victorious 2-1. A goal in each half was enough to keep the Tritons at bay even with the late goal to make it interesting. After the home win the team hit the road to go play UC Riverside where the teams played to a 2-2 draw. The Gauchos racked up 23 total shots, which was enough to hold a 2-1 lead up until the 89th minute where Riverside would equalize. This will be the Gaucho's second to last home stint where they will attempt to remain unbeaten in conference play. 
 
SCOUTING THE BEACH
After somewhat of a rough start to the year that saw The Beach go 2-4-1 to start, the season has now turned into a stretch where they have won three of their last four. Long Beach is hitting their stride and coming into this game with a 3-1 road record. 
 
Long Beach is coming off a 4-3 win over the UC San Diego Tritons where Long Beach State forward Liz Worden was named The Big West Offensive Player of the Week' Worden assisted or scored three of the four goals posted by The Beach.
 
Previous to that LBSU forward Kassandra Ceja was named The Big West Offensive Player of the Week. As the Beach looks to come into town and score, the Gauchos will attempt to snuff out the spark that Long Beach's offense has been able to create recently. 
 
SCOUTING THE ANTEATERS
The Anteaters come into town this week looking to hand the Gauchos their first Big West loss of the year. UCI has not lost a game since the bout with Arizona on Sept. 1 The Anteaters come into this week after going 2-0-2 in their last four matches. 
 
Irvine posts around 1.1 goals per game while allowing 1.5, the Gauchos score just over one goal a game equaling the Anteaters' average offensive output. If stats are any indication UCI will look to rely on the defense they've shown in their last four games, only giving up four goals.
 
One of these teams will receive their first Big West loss of the year, the Anteaters have a 2-2-2 record on the road while the Gauchos have been posted a 3-2-1 record at home this season. This conference matchup should be a close contest the entire way through. 

FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos will meet The Beach on Oct. 3 at 6 pm and then the Anteaters on Oct. 6 at 12 pm. Both events will be live streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available for both contests through ucsbgauchos.com.