SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — UC Santa Barbara (6-1-4, 1-0-1) defeated Sacramento State (4-3-3, 0-1-1) 1-0 on Saturday night at Harder Stadium to earn their first conference victory of the season. The Gauchos held the Hornets off the scoreboard. The first time they have held an opponent scoreless since August 23. A PK goal by
Emily Caughey was the difference in the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC Santa Barbara outshot Sac State 8-5 in the first half but went into halftime scoreless while also generating three corner kicks.
Delilah Vega-Aguilar tested the Hornets twice in the opening 13 minutes. Her first shot was nearly a goal. After beating the keeper to a 50-50 ball, a shot was saved by a streaking defender and kicked off the goal line. Sac State followed with pressure with a 17th-minute corner. Still, UC Santa Barbara pushed back from in the 24
th minute with shots by
Chayse Yu, Vega-Aguilar and
Emily Caughey. More Gaucho shots by
Regan Stiner shot and
Devin Greer kept the offensive momentum up for the home team.
Maddie Buckley made a save in the 41
st minute before
Olivia Howard recorded the final UC Santa Barbara shot of the half.
Caughey broke through for UC Santa Barbara in the 58
th minute, converting a penalty kick to open the scoring and give the home side a 1-0 lead. Earlier, UC Santa Barbara put together second-half looks from
Alondra Talamantes and Vega-Aguilar, while also withstanding Sac State hitting the woodwork in the 51
st minute and forcing Buckley into a save in the 55
th.
After the goal,
Isabella Ong put a shot on frame in the 61st minute, and UC Santa Barbara kept the 1-0 score through a physical stretch that included five fouls between the 59
th minute and 66
th minute. The Hornets later earned two corners and took two shots, but Buckley made another save during that sequence, and UC Santa Barbara carried the one-goal margin through a chippy finish for a 1-0 win.
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will now embark on a three-game road stretch beginning next Wednesday, September 30, when they head to Cal State Bakersfield. The Gauchos and Roadrunners will kickoff at 7 p.m., with the match streaming on ESPN+ and live statistics available through ucsbgauchos.com/WSOCLiveStats.
