SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team remains atop The Big West standings after the second week of conference play, but they had an opportunity to be alone up there on Saturday night. The Gauchos took a 1-0 lead over visiting Cal State Bakersfield through Buba Fofanah but had it snatched away late as the Roadrunners made it a 1-1 draw to keep the two sides level in first place with eight points apiece. Though his shutout streak ended, Owen Beninga was once again stellar in goal, making four stops, including a mind-blowing double save that single-handedly kept a point in the Gauchos' hands.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"You know, up until now, one goal has been good enough," Vom Steeg said. "We just got tired. We had a really hard game (at UC Davis), and our bus broke down so we had to stay the night and didn't get in until the next day. It was just a tired group … We got the goal and then we just ran out of defenders."
 
"Great goalkeeping, honestly. He made three crazy saves in the second half. The frustrating thing was, in the first half when we had control of the game, we had those three or four looks without scoring a goal."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Vom Steeg attempted to counter his team's fatigue by rotating the squad, starting the game in a 4-3-3 formation with Isaiah Barber, Mateos Carvalho and Ocean Salari as the forward line. It worked in that the Gauchos enjoyed a majority of the possession — 62% of it over the course of the first half — but not in finding the net. Santa Barbara's first shot of the game did not come until the 21^st minute, though it was a good one when it came. After winning the ball back just outside the Roadrunners' penalty area, the ball ended up at the feet of Ramses Martinez, whose shot was only kept out by a block that sent it just wide of the post.
 
In the 27^th, the Gauchos made essentially a line change, bringing on five new players and morphing into a 4-4-2 formation that they have often deployed this season. The new blood almost immediately paid dividends, with three of Santa Barbara's first-half shots all coming afterwards. Nicolas Willumsen had a shot blocked in the 31^st minute and forced a save in the 32^nd, and Eddie Villeda forced another last-ditch block in the 41^st. After Fofanah's low cross fizzed past three other Gaucho forwards, Santa Barbara's left back latched onto it but saw his attempt deflected wide. A minute later, another deflection nearly gave the Gauchos a goal when Haruki Utsumi's cross was met by a recovering Roadrunner at the near post, the flailing defender nearly putting the ball into his own net.
 
At halftime UC Santa Barbara welcomed a number of local AYSO youth teams to show off their team pride with a banner parade on the field, while inside the locker room the Gauchos worked on ways to find a breakthrough. As it turned out, the solution was simple: let Buba be Buba. In the 52^nd minute, a short corner kick made its way to Fofanah, with a pair of Roadrunners draped all over him. Despite nearly getting knocked off his feet, he managed to keep the ball, escape the pressure and fire a shot through the goalkeeper's legs to put Santa Barbara ahead.
 
After Fofanah's goal, the energy ratcheted up, with Bakersfield sending more attacks forward. In the 65^th minute, it took heroics from Beninga to keep the Roadrunners from equalizing. After making a great save sprawling to his right, he watched the rebound fall to a Bakersfield attacker, scrambled to his feet and was able bat the follow-up shot away from the goal line before it could cross. His defense recovered and eventually cleared, but from that moment on, the visitors were the ones in control as the Gauchos tried to hold on for dear life.
 
In the 71^st minute, Beninga and the back line had another big moment, Jacob Blach making a crucial block at close range and Beninga saving the follow-up attempt. A minute later, the Roadrunners had a shot go off the post in a play that was eventually called back for offside. But in the 81^st minute, the dam finally broke. Bakersfield equalized with a header off a free kick, and the Gauchos were not able to find a late winner.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Bakersfield's goal ended Beninga's shutout streak at 531 minutes, though it does not damage his reputation as one of the best goalkeepers in The Big West this season. His 0.17 goals-against average and .952 save percentage still top the conference, and he remains in second for clean sheets.
• In a more dubious distinction, the Gauchos are now tied (fittingly) for The Big West lead in ties this season, having to settle for their fifth draw of the year on Saturday. Santa Barbara has never drawn more than six matches in a season in its history.
• Speaking of history, three Gauchos reached personal milestones on Saturday night: freshmen Jack Middleton and Mateos Carvalho earned their first career starts, while Haruki Utsumi made his 50^th appearance for UC Santa Barbara after transferring from El Camino College.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos hit the road for both of their matches next week, traveling to face UC San Diego in La Jolla on Wednesday and Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo next Saturday. Their next home match will be on Oct. 22, against a Sacramento State team which currently sits at the bottom of the conference table.