NORTHRIDGE, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer team dropped its third consecutive match in a 2-1 loss to CSUN on Wednesday night.

UC Santa Barbara finished with 17 shots and six on goal, while the Matadors had 19 shots and eight on goal. After being held scoreless in the first half, UC Santa Barbara generated 10 shots and six corner kicks in the second half but could not find a late equalizer.

UC Santa Barbara went into halftime down 1-0 after the Matadors scored in the 20th minute. Earlier, UC Santa Barbara opened with pressure, earning two corner kicks in the first three minutes and getting two shots from Olivia Howard.

Howard nearly netted an early goal. Her initial shot was blocked, but she corralled the rebound and fired one just over the crossbar.

Maddie Buckley kept the match scoreless through a Matadors push with four saves before the goal, and Alondra Talamantes forced a save from the CSUN keeper in the 27th minute as UC Santa Barbara looked for a response.

UC Santa Barbara closed the half with another attacking stretch, including a Chayse Yu shot saved in the 40th minute, a corner kick, Ava Ybarra’s shot off the left woodwork and an Emily Caughey attempt over the top before the Matadors carried the 1-0 lead into the break.
 
Delilah Vega-Aguilar cut the Matador lead in half in the 69th minute, finishing off a Dakota Watterson assist after the Matadors had added an early second-half goal. The Gauchos built their response around a stretch of chances, including two Howard shots, a Reese Wroblewski attempt and three corner kicks in the 62nd and 63rd minutes.

After Vega-Aguilar’s goal, UC Santa Barbara kept pressing with shots from Sophia Moness, Devin Greer, Watterson and Ybarra, plus back-to-back corners in the 76th minute. Buckley made another save in the 86th minute and UC Santa Barbara earned a late corner at 87:22, but the half ended with the Matadors holding on for a 2-1 final.

With the loss, the Gauchos drop into a three-way tie for fifth place with Long Beach State and Cal Poly. The three teams will go into the final match of the season being able to reach as high as a four seed and as low as falling out of the tournament.

UC Santa Barbara will wrap up the regular season at UC Riverside on Saturday night. The Highlanders are coming off a win over Cal Poly as they head into Saturday.

The two teams will kickoff at 1 p.m. in Riverside. The match will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available.