SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team opened up their final Big West campaign with a draw against Long Beach State on Wednesday night. Goals by
Hailey Tyacke and
Alondra Talamantes and a big penalty kick save by
Maddie Buckley highlighted the match for the Gauchos.
FROM HEAD COACH PAUL STUMPF
"I think that was one of the more talented teams we've seen this year, as far as their ability on the ball," said Stumpf. "I think there were multiple dynamic players on their team. I would say on the real positive side of things, we defended very well, and we scored multiple goals on a very talented team. I feel good about taking a 2-2 tie out of here tonight against a very talented Long Beach team."
FROM FRESHMAN ALONDRA TALAMANTES
On scoring her first career goal: "I was feeling so grateful that my team was there and supporting me," said Talamantes. "My first reaction was to hug all of them because at the end of the day I'm doing it for them. I was just really happy, and I felt blessed."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The dynamic forwards for the Beach set the tone for the game early, but it was the Gauchos that would strike first. After an initial look at net in the fourth minute, the next couple of minutes of the game were played in the midfield. In the 13
th minute,
Chayse Yu used her patent move to get around a defender and got the ball to
Hailey Tyacke, who netted the first goal of the game.
The Gaucho lead would only last about five minutes before the Beach knotted the match up at one a side. They kept that momentum by firing off three more shots right after scoring the goal. After another strong push, the Gauchos took a late first-half lead.
Alondra Talamantes found the back of the net after breaking through the backline of Long Beach, putting the Gauchos up 2-1 with 47 seconds remaining in the half.
In the second half, both sides found some more open space and put some shots on net, forcing the keepers to make saves. In the 65th minute, a cross was sent deep into the box, and
Maddie Buckley left her mark and punched the ball out. Following the play, a review for a penalty that was asked by Long Beach. The refs deemed that Buckley went through the attacker, resulting in a penalty.
The Big West's leading scorer stepped over the ball, looking to tie the game. She was denied as Buckley guessed correctly, keeping the score at 2-1. Just six minutes later, Long Beach leveled the score as Cherrie Cox netted her 11
th goal of the season. Both teams' defenses held on down the stretch, with both goalkeepers standing strong in between the pipes. Long Beach State forced Buckley to make a season-high eight saves.
With the hard-fought draw, the Gauchos extended their home unbeaten streak to 10 matches and are currently riding a six-match unbeaten streak overall.
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will host Sacramento State on Saturday, September 26 at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com/WSOCLiveStats.
