SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In a Blue-Green Rivalry match that featured the reigning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year and a crowd of 7,500 raucous fans, it was the netminder making just his second career appearance that stole the show between the sticks on Saturday afternoon. Owen Beninga's commanding performance earned him his second shutout in as many starts and a 0-0 draw for his UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team against Cal Poly. The freshman had safe hands in every situation, making five saves in the match and catching just about every cross, corner or free kick that was hit in his direction.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"Owen is a player that is the future in terms of our goalkeeping, and we've been assuming that we would get him as many games as we could. Tonight was a game where, given the fact that Cal Poly scores probably 90 percent of their goals on set pieces and drops balls in, he was the right player for us to play tonight … After the first cross which he kind of watched, he then said every ball I can, go get, and I think that made the whole difference in the game in terms of our shutout was his ability to control the box and set pieces."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
For all of Beninga's great work, it was forward Steinar Bjornsson who made the most jaw-dropping save of the match, a last-ditch effort as the Gauchos had to soak up pressure from the visitors early. Cal Poly got to the end line, cut a pass back across the face of goal and got a shot on a wide-open net. However, the shot was slow and Bjornsson had been haring his way back to cover; the Icelander made a back-heeled flick to clear the ball off the line to safety.
 
Other than that dramatic moment, Beninga made a pair of comfortable saves and Santa Barbara got through the first 20 minutes. Then, the game changed as the Gauchos made their first subs, the introductions of Thomas Noordegraaf and Buba Fofanah getting Santa Barbara more of a foothold in the game. The two combined on a counterattack in the 29^th minute that was the Gauchos' most cohesive move of the day to that point, but they were called back for offside.
 
The game's next swing came in the 35^th minute, and it was not a substitute but the interference of mother nature. Lightning in the area forced the teams from the field for half an hour, and when they returned, the Gauchos were in blitz mode. They earned back-to-back corner kicks just seconds after the restart and spent the majority of the 10 minutes between the restart and halftime on the attack. Fofanah and Noordegraaf again combined on a nifty passing move in the 42^nd minute, but Fofanah put his shot wide from a tight angle. In the final seconds of the half, Fofanah again got into a good position and got a free header at goal, but could not put his attempt on target. The halftime whistle came before Santa Barbara would have liked, considering how well they were playing at the time.
 
The Gauchos kept their heads level to hold on to their momentum through halftime and came out as the aggressors again to start the second 45. Zac Siebenlist got a free header at goal from eight yards out in the 49^th but did not test the keeper as much as he would have liked. Neither did Noordegraaf in the 51^st, when the Dutchman broke through the Mustang defense, but his last touch took the ball away from him and so his shot was tame in the end.
 
As the hour mark approached, the pendulum swung back the visitors' way, with Beninga getting more action. He made some more good catches from free kicks and corner kicks, and he was fast off his line too, racing out to smother any balls that got through on the ground. In the 61^st minute, he did well to tip a venomous shot over the crossbar, and he made another great stop in the 63^rd, getting down to his right quickly.
 
Again, subs changed the game for Santa Barbara, this time the re-introduction of Kaden Standish in the 67^th minute. Hey helped key a sequence that got Fofanah into the penalty area, only for his shot (and the rebound) to be blocked. Following up, Standish got a shot himself, which was also blocked. Still, that passage of play ushered in another phase of Gaucho dominance, with the Blue and Gold getting more of the possession and chances from the 70^th to 85^th minutes. In the 83^rd, Standish got a shot at the back post after a corner kick, but again it ended up being too tame to really test the goalkeeper.
 
And then, for the final five minutes and change, it was the Owen Beninga show. As Cal Poly got more of the ball as the seconds ticked away, Beninga was in complete control of his penalty area, taking care of all the Mustangs' deliveries. In fact, the only way the visitors were able to cause Beninga any problems was by fouling him.
 
FROM THE STUDENT ATHLETES
"Coming out for crosses is a big part of my game that I take pride in," Beninga said. "I like to use my height to my advantage, come out for balls, put myself in good positions, and you just build a rhythm in the game. You come out for your first cross and then you just keep building confidence off of that first cross."
 
"It was a great experience for sure, definitely not something I've experienced before but I was really happy to get that game under my belt. We knew that they were going to be a good team, that it was going to be a hard game, so I think the team did well defensively."
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• What made Saturday such a new experience for Beninga was the size of the crowd in Harder Stadium, officially 7,447 fans. It is the largest college soccer crowd so far this season, beating South Carolina and Clemson's Palmetto Series crowd of 6,536.
• Saturday's result extends Santa Barbara's home unbeaten run against Cal Poly to 12 matches. The Gauchos have not even conceded a goal to the Mustangs at Harder Stadium in 281 consecutive minutes of soccer, a run which dates back to 2022.

UP NEXT
Santa Barbara begins Big West play on Wednesday, traveling to Cal State Fullerton to take on the Titans at 7 p.m. The Gauchos' next home match is Oct. 4, when they will host UC Riverside, and they will conclude this year's Blue-Green Rivalry with a visit to San Luis Obispo on Oct. 15.