SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team welcomed another fellow 2024 NCAA Tournament participant to Harder Stadium on Friday night, taking on a Cornell team which began the season at No. 22 in the national rankings. Thanks to some stout defense, the Gauchos were on their way to a hard-fought draw with the Big Red, but a late goal from the visitors handed Santa Barbara a 1-0 defeat.
 
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"This is the kind of game, a top 20 opponent, a good team but we certainly had enough looks to do something, it's a 0-0 game, we all walk away feeling okay about life," UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg said. "I'm disappointed about tonight, but I'm not disappointed about what we have and where we are and where we're going."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
A match between two teams who returned the vast majorities of their defensive cores from last season, Friday night's contest began like a boxing match without a round limit, the two foes testing each other's guards, trying to find a rare opening. The Big Red slipped first but were unpunished when Buba Fofanah's pass across the penalty area could not quite reach Zac Siebenlist on the penalty spot. The Gauchos spent more time on the ball in the early going and threw the first big punch too, with Steinar Bjornsson teeing up a shot from around 30 yards out, a line drive that took saving by the Cornell goalkeeper.
 
Having had their gloves stung, the Big Red were next to take a swing, with Gaucho keeper Luke Skinner having to get down to his left to keep out a cross-turned-shot at his near post in the 38^th minute. The rebound pinballed around and turned into another Cornell shot, which Skinner was able to catch comfortably. The experienced Englishman was in crucial action again in the final minutes of the first half, racing off of his line to smother a ball that had been played through the defense before a Big Red forward could reach it.
 
In the second half, the game's time limit crept further and further into each team's mind and what had been a cagey, cautious first half opened up into an end-to-end track meet of a second half. Fofanah nearly landed a big punch in the 50^th minute, volleying a shot goal-ward after a corner kick, but his screaming effort went just high and wide. Less than a minute later, Cornell got their first shot of the half at the other end of the pitch, also going just wide.
 
Kaden Standish forced the first save of the half in the 56^th minute when his shot took a funky deflection on its route to goal and required parrying away from the top corner, but no save was as impressive as the one Skinner made at the other end on the hour mark. Another long-range, arcing effort was headed for the net, but Skinner lept and palmed the shot over the bar and to safety.
 
The Santa Barbara defense made a pair of blocks from close range around the 74-minute mark, and the final 15 minutes saw both teams attempting to break on the counterattack whenever possible in search of a winner. Santa Barbara's best chance came from a free kick in the 79^th minute, as Cornell's keeper tried to punch the cross but missed, letting the ball fall to Haruki Utsumi at the far post. Unfortunately, he was not able to adjust in time to put the ball on target.
 
Not two minutes later, the Big Red had Santa Barbara's defense and Skinner beat on a counterattack, but put the shot off the post. A minute after that, they had a goal ruled out for offside. During the video review of that play, Vom Steeg told the Gauchos to hold out for the final seven minutes. They nearly did. Cornell's winner came with just 1:08 left to play.
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• With the loss, Santa Barbara is now 0-3 in three meetings with Cornell. The Big Red are one of only six teams that Vom Steeg has faced at least twice in his career without beating.
• Skinner made four saves in the match, bringing his season total up to 13. The defensive line in front of him also blocked six Cornell shots.

 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos embark on their biggest road trip of the season next, paying visits to San Diego, No. 2 Marshall and UNLV before returning to Santa Barbara on Sept. 21.