Gauchos chase victory
The floodgates have opened on the early season scoring drought. Now the UC Irvine men’s soccer team has to deal with leaking leads.
For the second straight match, the Anteaters earned an early advantage, only to see the opponent mount a successful comeback. The latest instance came Thursday, when UC Santa Barbara rallied for a 3-1 win in the Big West Conference opener for both teams.
UCI (2-6-2, 0-1 in conference) took less than three minutes to seize the lead over the Gauchos, producing its eighth goal in three games when senior Lalo Calzada chipped a pass from Jaime Phillips over a charging goalkeeper.
But UCSB (6-3-1, 1-0) got the equalizer in the 10th minute, then netted the game-winner in the 12th minute to add to the Anteaters’ struggles.
Tuesday’s lead lasted considerably longer than the last UCI advantage. UCI forged a 3-0 cushion at UCLA on Sunday, only to see the Bruins pull even in the final 10 seconds of regulation, then prevail, 4-3, in overtime.
The ‘Eaters, who produced just three goals in its first seven matches, also saw a 1-0 lead erased in a 1-1 tie at the University of San Diego on Sept. 11.
Josue Espana tacked on for the visitors in the 86th minute to render meaningless a 15-13 UCI shot advantage.
UCI missed a chance to tie the game in the 62nd minute when senior midfielder Gerardo Gonzalez, who had earned an assist on all four of UCI’s goals the last two games, directed a pass behind him to set up a golden opportunity for Phillips. But Phillips’ wide-open shot from inside the 18-yard box kissed wide off the left post.
“We capitalized on an early chance [on which Gonzalez was also given an assist], and I think we were full of energy to start the game,” UCI Coach Chris Volk said. “But then within 10 minutes, we conceded two very soft goals and now we’re chasing the game again. It’s uncharacteristic of our [senior goalkeeper Michael Breslin] to give up those goals. But at this level, they are not acceptable either. I don’t expect our goalkeeper to win a game for you, but they can lose one. It wasn’t on [Breslin] tonight, but it definitely put us in a hole.”
UCI, 1-6-2 after winning its opener, has nine regular-season games remaining, beginning with a home conference clash with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday at 7 p.m. Even with nine wins to close the regular season, UCI would likely need to win the conference tournament and get the automatic berth to return to the NCAA Tournament.
“The thing right now is keeping the confidence in the group,” Volk said. “We’ve got to get some things going our way and I’m going to take it one game at a time, just like I want our players to do. I’ll take a one-game [winning] streak before I talk about a nine-game streak.”
Though the offensive surge does mark progress, Volk, noted the ‘Eaters can’t be too encouraged.
“We’ve outshot our last four opponents, but the body of work is, we only have one win to show for it,” Volk said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how many shots or how much possession you have, people want to see results. And you get results by scoring goals and not giving up goals.”
Junior center back Jack Birkenbeuel sparkled defensively for UCI, for which Breslin had three saves.
Geoffrey Acheampong scored the first UCSB goal. The game-winner was the eighth goal of the season for junior forward Nick Depuy.