With a golden goal from Boris Jovanovic, No. 6 UCSB came out on top in a 12-11 sudden death overtime thriller against No. 11 Princeton to open the Mountain Pacific Invitational on Friday night.
The Gauchos (6-1) have now won three games in a row, which is their second three-game winning streak of the season.
Shane Hauschild carried the team early after scoring the game’s first two goals in the opening 93 seconds. The junior would tack on the first score of the second half to clinch his second hat trick of the year. Also scoring a trio of goals was Reed Cotterill, while Anthony Nuljan and Jovanovic found the back of the cage twice apiece.
After Hauschild gave UCSB its early 2-0 lead in the first, the team managed to stay ahead well into the fourth quarter and even garnered a three-point lead on two occasions.
However, after Tor Jensen put the Gauchos on top 11-8 with 4:23 left in regulation, the Tigers went on their biggest run of the day with three unanswered goals to force overtime.
In the first extra period, UCSB withstood a Princeton (6-3) power play to maintain the tie, and kept the score gridlocked at 11-11 through the second overtime period.
When the game reached sudden death, the Gauchos came up with a pivotal power play opportunity at the 1:06 mark. This set the stage for Jovanovic’s heroics, as he registered the game-winner just six seconds later. It was the sophomore’s third multi-scoring effort in four matches, including two in a row.
With their first overtime victory under its belt, UCSB will move on to face No. 3 Cal in the winner’s bracket with a 12:15 p.m. start time on Saturday. It will be the first of a two-game day for the Gauchos, as they will go on to play either No. 2 USC or No. 7 Long Beach State in the evening.