Donovan Sessoms made a statement that he’s at UC Santa Barbara to score goals and help the Gaucho men’s soccer team win.
The senior transfer from Sacramento State delivered a beauty of a goal that was enough for the Gauchos to beat Loyola Marymount, 1-0, in a preseason friendly at Harder Stadium on Friday night.
Sessoms ripped a 30-yard left-footed thunder strike into the back of the net in the 20th minute for the eventual game winner.
“It was a good feeling,” Sessoms said of the goal. “I’ve got to build off of it, I can’t get comfortable, but it feels nice because I didn’t score in the spring. Now I have a goal and I just have to keep working off that.”
Sessoms scored two goals and had three assists last season at Sacramento State. He had 10 in his sophomore year and earned first-team All-Big West honors.
Sessoms’ goal came after returning starting goalkeeper Owen Beninga made a diving save to keep the Lions scoreless. He finished with five saves.
Twenty-three Gauchos saw action in Saturday’s tuneup before the regular season. The team played the last 19 minutes with a man advantage as LMU’s Skyler Wright was ejected after receiving a second yellow card.
The Gauchos are back at Harder Stadium on Friday for their season opener against San Jose State. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
