SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team felt the rain on its skin, made sure no one else had to do it for them and secured the win to get them in… to The Big West Championship, defeating CSUN, 3-2, on Saturday night.
Kaden Standish delivered his Harder Stadium swan song by playing a role in all three Gaucho goals, assisting both
Steinar Bjornsson's opener and
Kalle Rahbek's game-winner. Fellow seniors
Drew Kamienski and
Calle Mollerberg played the full 90 minutes in defense, with Kamienski getting his own Senior Night moment, a goal-line clearance in the first half.
QUOTABLE
Head coach Tim Vom Steeg on the team's performance Saturday night: "The first half was probably the best half of the year," Vom Steeg said. "We moved the ball around really well. We got the two goals. We did great. We came out of the second half but we were down Jack, Donovan, and Colby, and those are your three kind of subs that you need to keep everything fresh on the field. And so, we get the third goal, then we just stop playing. It's crazy. And of course, we always know in soccer once you get one, it can… but credit to the guys to finish out that, you know, we had 25 minutes to kill and we did it. So, we picked up the win and you know that's what it is these days, you win and move on."
Kaden Standish on his Senior Night performance: "It feels amazing. Based on the season, I think this would be the last time I play at Harder, so I want to make the most of it," Standish said. "I've had so many memories here with the team, family, everything about it, so I wanted to make sure this one counted, kind of gave it my all. I mean, I was dead by the end. I was cramping, both hamstrings and both calves, so I was dead, but yeah, super happy we could get the win."
Standish on his career as a Gaucho: "It honestly pinned (sic) out to this," Standish said. "I wanted my freshman year to be the building, sophomore year breaking through, and junior senior year to be kind of a standout player, show the coaches, show the country who I am. And I think I'm at a good start, I just got to continue going. Hopefully we can get some big wins, get into the tournament, and just continue going. But yeah, I'm really pleased to see how this turned out."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos took 20 minutes to convert their first-half dominance into a first goal, but when they broke through, they did so in style. Standish started the move, dribbling into space on the left flank and lobbing a pass across the field to Rahbek at the back post. The Dane fizzed a low cross along the ground to the center of the goal, where Bjornsson was waiting six yards from a yawning goal mouth. All the Icelander had to do was redirect the ball into the back of the net for his 10
th goal of the season. Eight minutes later, Standish was wreaking havoc again. This time, he darted into the penalty area and was knocked over by a CSUN defender. After the referee initially let play continue, a video review confirmed that the foul warranted a penalty kick, which Standish himself dispatched.
The Gauchos continued to ratchet up the pressure, out-shooting the Matadors, 13-5, over the course of the first 45 minutes, but entered halftime with just two goals to their name. They nearly had one against them in the 38
th minute, but Kamienski and goalkeeper
Owen Beninga combined to deliver a brilliant double save. After a Matador managed to wriggle free of the Santa Barbara defense no more than eight yards from goal, his shot beat Beninga and looked destined for the far corner of the net, but Kamienski had recovered well and swept it off the goal line. When Kamienski's clearance fell to another Matador, Beninga had recovered in time and made the save on the follow-up shot.
With the clean sheet still intact after halftime, Santa Barbara seemingly put the game to bed in the 52
nd minute when captain Rahbek finally blasted home his first goal in Blue and Gold. Standish won the ball back in the attacking third of the pitch, took a couple of dribbles and then laid a pass off into a wide-open space 25 yards from goal. Rahbek arrived there and blasted a line-drive shot into the far bottom corner of the net for his first Gaucho goal.
But that did not put the game to bed, as CSUN scored once in the 55
th minute, then a second in the 61
st to turn the final half hour from a comfortable cruise to victory into a last stand for the Gauchos. Santa Barbara passed the test, managing to control the majority of the possession over the final half an hour and avoiding a couple of close calls.
UP NEXT
With the Gauchos' win and Utah Valley's win over Cal State Bakersfield, Santa Barbara secured the no. 3 seed for The Big West Championship, which begins with the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 7. The Gauchos will visit No. 2 seed UC Irvine for that match, with the winner going on to face either No. 1 seed Utah Valley or No. 4 seed Cal State Bakersfield in The Big West Championship Final on Nov. 13. Next Saturday's semifinal will kick off at 6 p.m. from Anteater Stadium in Irvine and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
