SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Big West announced its Player of the Week awards on Monday, naming UC Santa Barbara's Steinar Bjornsson the Offensive Player of the Week after his two goals against ranked opposition. It is a second career weekly honor for the Gaucho sophomore, who earned a Freshman of the Week nod as part of his 2025 campaign that finished with Big West Freshman of the Year acclaim.
 
Both of Bjornsson's goals were late equalizers against top-20 teams, one at home and one on the road. On Monday night against then-No. 2 San Diego, the Icelander paid off his team's persistence, finally hammering the ball home after a sequence of three blocked shots. That 78^th-minute score earned the Gauchos a 1-1 come-from-behind draw against the second-ranked team in the nation, keeping Santa Barbara unbeaten at home on the season.
 
On Friday, he repeated the trick, albeit in different circumstances. Bjornsson's 25-yard screamer of a goal at No. 20 Cornell was one of just four shots the Gauchos managed on the night as they toiled to create chances. A rocket of a shot from long range, it also restored parity in a game that Santa Barbara had been trailing, 1-0, though Cornell would eventually score a late winner.
 
Bjornsson has now doubled his goal tally from last season in the matter of one week, and he will look to stay hot as the Gauchos conclude their East Coast road trip with a Monday night matchup at Rutgers.