SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team took a step in the right direction on Sunday night, even if it was not immediately reflected in the results, playing to a 1-1 draw with a very good Grand Canyon team. The Gauchos scored one of their best goals of the season through Buba Fofanah, the Cate School alumnus' 20^th in collegiate soccer, but still have defensive hiccups to eliminate, one of which resulted in the Antelopes scoring an equalizing goal.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"Look, Grand Canyon is a Top 25 [caliber] team and we had a lot of quality on the field, it was nice to be back home, we got the goal and then we gave them a goal back," Vom Steeg said. "We controlled the majority of the game, we had a lot of good things going on, so I think it's a step forward, and it's a good team. It's encouraging for me, and obviously we're working towards conference. So, if we're working towards conference, it's a good positive step for us."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were indeed largely in control through the first 20 minutes, including a sequence from the 9^th to 12^th minutes in which they really tightened the screws on Grand Canyon, taking three shots, two of which required saving, and earning five corner kicks. It did not take much longer before Santa Barbara got their breakthrough, though it came from a slick counterattack rather than sustained possession. Kaden Standish won a 50-50 ball about 30 yards from his own goal, took a few strides to get into the Lopes' half and played a perfectly weighted pass ahead for Zac Siebenlist to run onto in the penalty area. The sophomore's run drew out the GCU keeper, and Siebenlist made the heads-up play to pass across the face of the now empty goal to a wide-open Fofanah. One GCU defender made a sliding attempt to block Fofanah's shot, but it was too little, too late, and the Gauchos had the lead.
 
They kept it for only nine minutes. A bad pass at the back amid some high press from the Lopes gave GCU a free run at goal and their star player, freshman Junior Diouf, scored the equalizer.
 
"They legitimately have a player who is probably going to be a top-five draft pick in three months, and we didn't take care of him," Vom Steeg said. "When you play a guy like that, you have to be really strong, really physical and you can't leave balls short, and we made a mistake — made three of them actually."
 
The second mistake, one which the Gauchos escaped punishment for this time, was GCU's only other real scoring threat in the first half, a 42^nd-minute free kick that bounced off the post and somehow failed to fall to either of two wide-open Lopes who could have tapped the rebound home.
 
Of course, the good news is that was GCU's only other scoring chance because Santa Barbara was busy keeping the ball again, and they grew back into control of the game in the final 10 minutes of the half. Standish had a shot from distance that required saving in the 33^rd minute, and the Gauchos nearly grabbed a second goal just before the break thanks to a free kick right at the corner of the penalty area. Nicolas Willumsen forced a strong save with an even stronger shot, and the rebound fell for Isaiah Barber, whose headed attempt was cleared off the goal line. Barber got another bite at it, but put his follow-up shot wide.
 
The second half was more even, with Santa Barbara out-shooting Grand Canyon just 6-4 in the second 45 compared to 12-7 in the first and the teams each earning three corners in comparison to Santa Barbara's 6-2 first-half advantage in that department. While the Gauchos still had more of the ball, their defense was the first to be really tested after the break, with Jacob Blach making a goal-line clearance after a 51^st-minute free kick took a weird deflection. Six minutes later at the other end of the pitch, Blach started a nice passing move with Ramses Martinez, which resulted in Standish getting a look at goal, only for his shot to be deflected just wide.
 
As the attacking tempo slowed, the Gauchos nearly got punished for their third mistake, as Diouf dribbled right to the end line like he had for his goal and again got the ball past Santa Barbara's keeper in the 76^th minute, but this time Calle Mollerberg was on hand to kick the ball way before Diouf could put it in the net. Mollerberg was in action again in the 83^rd minute, recovering well to slow down and eventually stop Diouf on a breakaway.
 
There was still time for late drama, as Steinar Bjornsson had tested the Lopes goalie from long range just before that breakaway, and Zac Siebenlist put a shot on frame in the 87^th minute. That one was saved too, and it ended up being the final shot at goal from either side.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Fofanah's 14^th minute goal was his second for Santa Barbara, which he adds to a total of 18 from his time at the University of Portland for a total of 20 career NCAA goals.
• A total of 3,417 fans, over 2,500 of them UC Santa Barbara students attended Sunday night's match as part of the university's Welcome Weekend. New Chancellor Dennis Assanis and his wife, Eleni, were both awarded a Golden Scarf by UC Santa Barbara Arnhold Director of Athletics Kelly Barsky before the match.
• As the Gauchos turn their attention towards the Blue-Green Rivalry and Big West conference play, they must figure out how to reset after their slowest start to a season since 2017, when they also went 2-4-2 through their first eight matches.

 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will host the non-conference leg of the Blue-Green Rivalry against Cal Poly on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 4 p.m. from Harder Stadium. While the match will not count towards The Big West standings, the Gauchos are looking to maintain their streak of never losing at home to their arch rivals since Tim Vom Steeg became head coach. They are also looking to continue a tradition of the Blue-Green Rivalry being one of the highest-attended college soccer games in the country every year. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and UC Santa Barbara students get in for free with a valid UC Santa Barbara ID. Fans can also catch all the action from anywhere live on ESPN+ or by following along with live stats.