SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team earned their third consecutive victory with a 2-1 win over UC San Diego, Thursday night. O'Callaghan Liu's goal in the 73rd minute proved to be the difference in the match.
FROM HEAD COACH PAUL STUMP
"It was a tough week," said Stumpf. "We've been dealing with some injuries and illness forcing us to put a freshman in a new spot. It was a shaky start, I blame myself for that. The shape I put them in first wasn't working, but once we changed the shape we were able to get forward and create chances for ourselves."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams were ready to go from the jump as UC San Diego got a shot off on their very first possession. After the shot sailed high and left the Gauchos went on the attack. A cross into the box found the head of Devin Greer but unfortunately sent it over the crossbar.
With UC San Diego back on the attack the Tritons recorded three more shots in the 11th and 14th minutes. The Gaucho backline and Maddie Buckley were up to the task as a diving save by Buckley keep the game level at 0-0.
Both teams continued to get good looks at the goal but neither were able to find the back of the net. After a few substitutions by each team an errant pass by the Tritons was picked off by Chayse Yu who broke away and scored the first goal of the match in the 42nd minute. Yu beat the keeper low and middle, smashing the ball between the goalkeepers legs to find the back of the net.
Out of the break UC Santa Barbara kept the momentum up with two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the second half. A couple minutes later, Buckley kept the shutout in tact with a save.
In the 73rd minute a scrum between a few Gauchos and Tritons resulted in the ball finding the feet of
O'Callaghan Liu. The senior dribbled to the edge of the box and took a perfect shot beating the keeper to the low left side of the goal. Liu but the Gauchos up two.
Just five minutes later UC San Diego netted their first goal of the contest. After a shot was blocked just outside the six yard box, the ball bounced to a Triton attacker who beat Buckley and cut the lead to 2-1.
UC Santa Barbara held on down the stretch denying some quality chances from the Tritons to improve to 2-0 in conference play.
FROM FRESHMEN FORWARD CHAYSE YU
On the teams performance: "I feel like we are growing as a team and from last game to this game it is only going up from here."
On the atmosphere when she scored: "I could feel the energy from the crowd and from the bench. I was excited, motivated and the crowd definitely helped us get this win tonight."
UP NEXT
The Gauchos will hit the road on Sunday, Sept. 29 as they travel to UC Riverside. The Gauchos and Highlanders will kick off at 11 a.m. For those unable to make the trip, the match will be streamed through ESPN+.
