Late second half goal by Bjornsson gives Gauchos a tie against #2 USD

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) - Steinar Bjornsson did not miss his opportunity this time.

He scored an unassisted goal in the 78th minute to give UCSB a 1-1 draw against the second-ranked University of San Diego Toreros.

The Gauchos fired three shots in a 12-second span before Bjornsson buried the fourth shot with a left-footed blast in the back of the net.

Last week he hit the post and missed a rebound shot against #12 Marshall in which UCSB walked away with a tie as well.

"Marshall, we hit the underside of the post twice — and this one, you know, we had a couple, I thought great headers that we had looks at and a couple of balls breaking through, um, but it's good," said longtime Gauchos head coach Tim Vom Steeg. "It's a good group. We're going to be right there. And as soon as we start to score more goals, I think we're really going to be hard to beat."

"For the team and you know, for us attackers individually, you know, once you get that, that first goal, and especially if you get it early in the season, you know, it can really open the floodgates," Bjornsson said. "So, I'm hoping this will be the start of, you know, I've got my goal. [So do] Don (Sessoms), Kaden (Standish), so I'm hoping this will be the start of many goals for us attackers."

San Diego scored their goal in the 12th minute as Steven Ramirez converted a penalty kick after UCSB goalkeeper Owen Beninga collided with a San Diego striker while challenging for a cross into the penalty area.

UCSB improves to 1-0-2 on the season as they begin a 3-game road trip beginning Friday at Cornell.

(UCSB Athletics provided the quotes for this article).