University of California, Santa Barbara

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 25 UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team let fly early and often on Thursday night, with the posts of the Harder Stadium goals doing more to deny the Gauchos than the San Diego State defense could. While Santa Barbara could have had many more without that pesky woodwork, the Blue and Gold came away with a comfortable 2-0 win over the Aztecs, kick-started by Steinar Bjornsson's second-minute goal. He had much less to do at the other end, but Owen Beninga also picked up his 10^th career clean sheet in just his 19^th career game.
 
QUOTABLE
Head coach Tim Vom Steeg on Beninga's achievement: "Look, he earned his money," Vom Steeg said. "He did less today, but he earned his money last weekend with the saves at Grand Canyon. I mean, that win was on him. So that's what we need, you know."
 
Vom Steeg on the team's performance: "I was really hoping that the guys would start to link up," Vom Steeg said. "I was hoping that the guys would combine with each other and you could see the guys were, for the first time all year, consciously feeling it and almost to the point where we needed the third goal just because I thought we were almost getting too comfortable. I think it's an exciting game to watch and certainly teams are going to have to make a decision. They either take away our build or they drop in. But you're not going to be able to take away our build and not give that (passes behind the defense) up, so it was good."
 
Vom Steeg on the post hits: "Yeah, we hit the post, but we also had 13 shots and 0 goalie saves (in the first half), you know what I mean?" Vom Steeg said. "So, we made a concerted effort to put it on frame and unbelievable. Most of the time you have a post hit, you know, you have a ball hit a post and go in! We had everything clang off."
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Before the Gauchos started their unintentional assault on the iron, Bjornsson announced his team's homecoming by scoring with the first shot of the match. After a short corner kick, the ball came to the Icelander at the top of the penalty area, and he unleashed a low, driven shot that snuck inside the near post for the opening goal. Donovan Sessoms, having been involved in that build-up sequence, nearly made it 2-0 less than 20 seconds later, only to watch his curling effort crash off the far post.
 
That opening sequence set the tone for the whole first 20 minutes of action, and it was essentially all action. Kalle Rahbek pounced on a bad back pass in the eighth minute but his shot was just the wrong side of the near post. Sessoms was in action again in the 11^th, this time out-jumping everyone to win a header but sending it narrowly over the crossbar.
 
A minute later, Peleg Brown showed off his creative talent by lobbing an 80-yard diagonal pass essentially right onto the foot of Simone Ferrieri, with the Italian then fizzing a low cross towards the penalty spot, where Kaden Standish was waiting. It would have been a beautiful goal, had Standish not blazed his shot tantalizingly high. Standish got another chance in the 13^th minute, wriggling through Aztecs at the top of the penalty area to create space for a shot, but he was denied by the same post as Sessoms had been earlier. Santa Barbara finished the first half with 13 shots, but the only goalkeeper to make a save in the first half was Beninga, a textbook stop low to his right in the 37^th minute.
 
After a less-frantic start to the second half, the Gauchos started to turn the screws again and got a second goal around the 54^th minute. Bjornsson got a look at goal with the Aztecs' keeper well out of position, but was denied by a defender's outstretched foot. However, from the ensuing corner kick, Sessoms got two attempts from the top of the penalty area; the first was blocked but when the rebound came back to him, he made no mistake and fired a low shot through the San Diego State defense and goalkeeper to double the Gauchos' advantage.
 
The visitors elected to change netminders in the 57^th minute, the new keeper was tested twice in the following five minutes, answering both well. He got down to his right to deny Bjornsson in the 58^th, then did the same in the 62^nd, that time turning aside Siebenlist. The Gauchos had their most agonizing sequence of the night in the 67^th minute, when Sessoms hit another shot off the post, Bjornsson hit the rebound off the crossbar and Rahbek drilled that rebound right into the body of a defender.
 
Ultimately, time would heal those wounds, as Santa Barbara maintained their grip on the game through the final whistle, securing the 2-0 win.
 
UP NEXT
The Gauchos remain at home on Sunday, Sept. 20, when they will host Oregon State at 7 p.m. Sunday's match is part of UC Santa Barbara's Welcome Weekend, and the Gauchos are excited to have new and returning students in the crowd at Harder Stadium, where UC Santa Barbara students get in free with their campus ID.