It was a hot start for the UCSB men’s soccer team Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at Harder Stadium, but a pair of Stanford goals proved to be too much to overcome, as the Gauchos lost 2-1 to the No. 5-ranked Cardinal.
With the loss, Santa Barbara falls to 5-2-2 overall while Stanford improves to 5-0-3, keeping its unbeaten streak alive.
“We probably played the best first 20 minutes of any game we’ve ever had against that Stanford team,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said “… We did a lot of great things, it’s just unfortunate we didn’t get at least a tie to this game.”
Santa Barbara netted the first goal of the match in the third minute, when Salvador Aguilar was able to track down a deep pass from Timon Windisch near the Stanford box.
Aguilar, a sophomore forward, then outran the final defender and slotted the ball past Stanford’s incredible keeper, Matt Frank, who had only allowed three goals all season before that shot.
Aguilar has been in incredible form since the season’s start, with a team-high five goals, including the game-winner against Blue-Green Rival Cal Poly this past Wednesday.
“He’s on fire right now and he’s playing well,” Vom Steeg said.
“Everyone played well on that opening segment as well. We came out with a good energy and that ability to move the ball around.”
The Gauchos had two more looks in the first 15 minutes, as both Aguilar and Alexis Ledoux put shots on frame that were saved by Frank.
Then, Stanford’s offense joined the party.
In the 16th minute, Santa Barbara’s defense wasn’t quick enough to crash down on the Cardinal’s Jackson Kiil, who sent a shot to the top right corner of the goal and found the back of the net to tie the contest at 1-1.
The game went tied into the break, as both teams were unable to put together the same offense they had found early.
“It was a bit disappointing going into the half 1-1 instead of 2-0,” Vom Steeg said.
Stanford scored the only goal in the second half. On a corner kick, Keegan Hughes got up and hit a ball that deflected off a Gaucho defender’s shoulder and somehow found the top right corner of the net again to put the Cardinal up 2-1 in the 52nd minute.
“The second goal was unlucky,” UCSB goalkeeper Leroy Zeller said. “The keeper can’t really do much. It got headed into a good spot, and there wasn’t really a chance to get there.
“We worked hard, we were there for each other, and we were going still very hard at the end of the game. It was very good for the team’s overall performance as we still keep going.”
UCSB’s chances to find an equalizer in the second half were limited, as the Cardinal were playing back, but the Gauchos did have two decent chances.
In the 78th minute, Ledoux broke free from the defense and tried to slot a shot through the bottom left corner, but Frank slapped the ball away.
Then, in the 88th minute, the Gauchos nearly found late-game magic again, as a cross found Rene Pacheco on the right side of the box. He put the shot on frame, but it was saved by Frank.
“It was two segments in the entire game that was the difference, and the rest of the time it’s going to be hard against Stanford,” Vom Steeg said. “You’re never going to get more than eight or nine looks, and we got more looks tonight than we normally do.
“Other than the final score, I don’t have any complaints about the way we went about tonight.”
Vom Steeg was also pleased that no one was hurt in the Gauchos loss Saturday, as the team now turns its attention to conference play.
UCSB will host UC San Diego Wednesday at 7 p.m. to start Big West play.