FULLERTON, Calif. — The winless streak is over. The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team turned in a stout defensive performance to hold on to a 1-0 lead at Cal State Fullerton and win their Big West opener. Buba Fofanah scored again, Owen Beninga kept another clean sheet, but for the first time this season, they did both in the same game. Most importantly, the Gauchos finished, and not just in front of goal. While Beninga will get credit for the shutout (which he deserves), the defensive corps in front of him — Haruki Utsumi, Drew Kamienski, Calle Mollerberg, Eddie Villeda, Jacob Blach and Colby Renton — each put in tremendous shifts to keep all 17 of the Titans shots out of the net.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The hosts had control of the match through the first 10 minutes as Santa Barbara had to weather an early storm. In the first two minutes, the Titans had a shot blocked, another bounce off the crossbar and a third go wide left. While Fullerton managed five shots in the first 10 minutes, only one required saving, and it was a largely tame effort.
 
And after the 10^th minute, it was the Gauchos who started to take more and more control. They crafted enough of a threat to win back-to-back corner kicks in the 12^th minute, then Steinar Bjornsson and Fofanah had shots blocked within a minute of each other. Santa Barbara continued to knock at the door, winning a couple more corners and seeing another shot from Bjornsson blocked. In the 22^nd minute, they should have had a tap-in after Calle Mollerberg split the Titan defense with an incisive pass for Bjornsson to run on to, allowing the Icelander to play a pass across the face of goal, where both Fofanah and Thomas Noordegraaf were racing to meet it. Unfortunately, neither could put a toe on the ball to direct it goalwards.
 
In the 27^th minute, the Gauchos finally broke through. Villeda played another deft through ball for Zac Siebenlist, who raced to meet it before it crossed the endline. The sophomore pulled a pass back for Fofanah arriving at the front post, only to see his shot saved at close range from the Titan goalkeeper. However, the Gauchos were clearly due a break. The rebound from the initial save bounced right back off of Fofanah and into the back of the net, putting Santa Barbara on top.
 
While the Gauchos maintained a comfortable hold on the game after the score, they had to manage a few issues. In the 32^nd minute, the Titans worked their way into a one-on-one with Beninga, but Villeda made a great recovery to get in the way before the Fullerton player could get a shot off. In the 45^th minute, just 15 seconds before halftime, the Titans had a shout for a penalty kick, but the referee ruled (and upheld after VAR review), that Blach's tackle was fair.
 
With a lead at the break, the Gauchos dug in and spent the majority of the second half soaking up pressure, looking to hit the Titans on counterattacks where they could while the defense worked to maintain the lead. Their best opportunity for a second goal came in the 67^th minute, less than 60 seconds after the Titans had been forced to change goalkeepers, but Siebenlist's shot was denied by the new netminder in what was the save of the evening.
 
As it turned out, the Gauchos had no need for a second goal, as the defense did its job. The Titans took nine shots in the second half but managed to put only one of them on target, which Beninga saved comfortably. The reigning Big West Freshman and Defensive Player of the Week showed off his trademark aerial dominance a couple of times in the second half, either catching or punching away corner kicks, but the 45-minute stand was largely orchestrated by the back line in front of him. Of the eight second-half shots that Beninga did not have to save, four were blocked by the Gauchos.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• With three clean sheets in as many appearances, Beninga now ranks fourth in The Big West for shutouts on the season. The two players next ahead of him have taken 10 games to collect their four.
• Wednesday night's victory was the 20^th in conference openers for Tim Vom Steeg as head coach of the Gauchos.
• Wednesday was also Vom Steeg's 23^rd career victory over fellow Big West coaching legend George Kuntz. Since Kuntz took over the Titans in 2025, Vom Steeg's Gauchos are 7-3-3 against them.

 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara returns to Harder Stadium for their first home conference match of the season on Saturday, hosting UC Riverside at 7 p.m. The Highlanders suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 defeat in their conference-opener on Wednesday night, falling to a late CSUN goal. The Gauchos have not lost to the Highlanders on home soil since 2017. Tickets for Saturday night's match are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and fans can catch all the action from anywhere by watching live on ESPN+.