The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer team started their four-game road trip with a draw against Fresno State. The Gauchos outshot the Bulldogs 14-9 but were unable to find the back of the net.

“Earning a shutout is always a positive,” Coach Stumpf said. “We’re happy with the number of scoring options we created for ourselves, but we just have to be a little bit more clinical in front of the net.

“There were a lot of great defensive performances from Sabrina Hinz, Shaye Douglas, Kate Killer, Emma Corcoran and Emily Caughey.”

It was a slow start to the match as each side felt each other out before the Gauchos got organized and started to move their attack up the field. Emily Caughey fired off the first of seven shots for the Gauchos in the first half, four of which were on goal. 

The UC Santa Barbara defense held strong when the Bulldogs possessed the ball with Sabrina Hinz making one save in the opening half. Neither side could break the deadlock for the remainder of the first half and went to halftime tied at zero. 

As the second half started both sides became more aggressive. Fresno State took the first shot of the second half just a minute and a half into the period. An off-target shot gave possession to the Gauchos who took the ball up the field where Jessica Carlton took a shot but also shot off target. 

As the game moved along, the Gauchos continued to pepper the Fresno State goal with shots. In the 61st minute, UC Santa Barbara was awarded a free kick just outside the 18-yard box after an unintentional handball was whistled.

Jessica Carlton stepped up and ripped a shot to the bottom left of the net that was saved by the Fresno keeper. An unmarked Jessica Tamayo raced to the rebound but her shot sailed high as the match stayed 0-0.

“Minus not scoring a goal, there were several attackers who also played well,” Stumpf said. “Jessica Tamayo was playing some great final balls, Lauren Helwig was solid as always and Jaclyn Degidio also played very well.”

Fresno State made a final push in the last two minutes of the match, but the Blue and Gold held strong and battled to a nil-nil draw with the Bulldogs.

The Gauchos outshot Fresno 14-9, with shots on goal 6-4 also in the Gauchos favor.

UC Santa Barbara will continue their road trip with their next match in Stockton, Calif. against Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 27. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. For those unable to attend the match will be streamed on ESPN+ with live stats through pacifictigers.com.