For the third consecutive match, the UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer team had to settle for a draw. The Gauchos scored on goals from Olivia Howard and Delilah Vega-Aguilar to take a two-goal lead, but North Dakota State scored three unanswered goals over the next 33 minutes to take the lead.

The Gauchos showed grit by scoring their third goal of the game in the 85th minute to earn the 3-3 result.

The Gauchos, like most of their matches so far this season, got out to an early lead. Oliva Howard took a left-footed shot just outside the box in the seventh minute that beat the North Dakota State goalkeeper high and to the back post.

The match opened up after the scoring, with both sides taking aim at goal. A few chances arose for each side, but no one capitalized, and the Gauchos went to halftime up 1-0.

To start the second half, the Gauchos quickly took a two-goal lead in the 51st minute. A cross by Isabella Ong found Delilah Vega-Aguilar at point-blank range of the goal.

Vega-Aguilar was denied on her first shot by the Bison keeper, but corralled the rebound and found the back of the net on her second try. It was her third goal in as many games.

Just two minutes and 40 seconds later, the Bison broke through to cut the Gaucho lead in half. In the 77th minute, North Dakota State netted the equalizer. After Maddie Buckley came out of net a little too far, a Bison attacker took a shot from 40 yards out that hit the crossbar and rebounded directly to another player, who found the back of the net to tie the game at two goals apiece.

In the 83rd minute, the Bison scored their third unanswered goal and took their first lead of the game. With less than eight minutes to play, the Gauchos ramped up the pressure to work for a result.

Two minutes after the Bison took the lead, Ava Jarolimek would level the game. A corner kick was awarded to UC Santa Barbara and Jarolimek stepped over the ball. A perfect shot beat the goalkeeper to the back post and scored off the corner kick. Neither side could net the game-winner in the final five minutes and the match ended in a 3-3 draw.

UC Santa Barbara will hit the road this upcoming week as they travel to Idaho State and Weber State. The Gauchos and Bengals will kickoff on Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m., and kickoff against Weber State will be on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 12 p.m.

All times are Pacific Time. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com/WSOCLiveStats.