SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer team (8-2-6, 3-1-3) tied UC San Diego (7-3-5, 3-1-3) 1-1 on Saturday at Harder Stadium in a pivotal Big West matchup.

Both teams came in tied for third in the conference, and both left the field with a point and in the same position.

UC Santa Barbara spent much of the first half defending the Tritons’ pressure but limited the damage to a 1-0 halftime deficit. Maddie Buckley was tested 31 seconds in and made a save on a shot before UCSD broke through in the 11th minute.

The Gauchos answered with a brief attacking spell, getting a Caitlyn Simons shot, a corner kick and a Delilah Vega-Aguilar attempt saved by the UC San Diego goalkeeper in less than a minute. After falling behind, UC Santa Barbara kept the Tritons from adding on during a strong stretch that included a Buckley save and three UCSD corners.

UC Santa Barbara gained momentum again late with a corner and an Allison Gonzalez shot just before halftime, but UCSD carried the 1-0 lead into the break.

UC Santa Barbara tied the match at 1-1 in the 69th minute, when Vega-Aguilar finished off Regan Stiner’s assist off a corner kick. Earlier in the half, UC Santa Barbara nearly broke through with two corner kicks and five shots in the first seven minutes after halftime.

This stretch included saved shots from Gonzalez, Reese Wroblewski and Ava Ybarra. Ybarra forced another save in the 66th minute, and after the equalizer, Simons nearly added another in the 76th minute with a shot off the left post.

The Tritons tested Buckley repeatedly over the final 14 minutes, but Buckley made four saves in that stretch as UC Santa Barbara finished the half and the match level at 1-1.

With four matches remaining, the Gauchos are currently in a tie for third place with UC San Diego and CSUN. Two of the Gauchos four matches left are against teams they are either tied with (CSUN) or ahead of them in the standings (Utah Valley). Currently, the Gauchos would host a first-round Big West Championship match.

UC Santa Barbara now sets their sights on the Blue-Green rivalry match that will take place in San Luis Obispo on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats available.