UCSB and Cal Poly battle to scoreless draw in front of nearly 10 thousand fans
UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 22 UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team defended the fortress that is Harder Stadium in front of nearly 10,000 fans Sunday afternoon, finishing their Blue-Green Rivalry match against Cal Poly in a 0-0 draw. The result keeps the Gauchos undefeated (4-0-2) at home this season and makes it 12 years since the Mustangs last won on Meredith Field. The afternoon attendance of 9,985 also makes Sunday's match the most attended NCAA Men's Soccer contest so far this season.
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"Look, I thought our guys played very well, and I say that because we knew that they would come in, drop 10 guys, play behind the ball and play off of your mistakes," Vom Steeg said. "The emphasis during the week was to have our back five players be committed to not giving up a goal. It was less about win or lose, it was they are not going to score on us.
"We knew it was going to be 1-0 or at best 2-0 with something late, so nothing that happened was surprising, it played out like I thought it would play out, but what happened was when we lost Manu (Duah), we really had to scramble because he's played every minute of every game this year at that position. I asked Mikkel (Goeling) to then drop into that spot, and I thought he played his best game of the year, considering what we needed him to do for us, so huge step up for him, but it did take away from what we wanted to do going forward."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos were on the front foot for most of the match, out-shooting the Mustangs 10-6 on the afternoon, but while they held the majority of the possession, they struggled to convert that into shots during the first half. Santa Barbara's only effort on goal in the first 45 was a long-range drive from Alexis Ledoux in the 22nd minute, which did take some saving from Cal Poly's goalkeeper.
At the other end of the pitch, the Gauchos' emphasis on not conceding had clearly gotten through, even after the previously ever-present defensive midfielder Manu Duah was forced off due to injury in just the 14th minute. With the normally attacking-minded Mikkel Goeling deputizing for Duah, the Blue and Gold limited the Mustangs to just one shot of their own in the first 45, which went well high and wide of David Mitzner's goal.
The Gaucho goalie was called into action early on in the second half though, palming away a looping shot that was heading for the top corner in the 50th minute, then smothering a relatively tame header from the following corner kick. He was back in action in the 57th minute, comfortably handling a long-range effort from Cal Poly's leading scorer.
After surviving those three shots in seven minutes defensively, the Gauchos were back on the attack and came tantalizingly close to breaking the deadlock in the 68th minute. Calle Mollerberg rose above everyone to get a thumping header on a cross from a free kick, but his effort clanged off the bar. Zac Siebenlist got his foot to the rebound at close range, but his attempt was smothered.
In the 71st minute, the Gauchos fired another salvo from another set-piece opportunity. This time it was Isaiah Barber connecting with the ball in, only to see his shot saved. Ledoux whacked the rebound goal-ward but was denied by a Mustang defender, and while Filip Basili was able to keep the play alive and create a shot, it was from an awkward angle and could not beat the keeper at the near post.
The next team to manage a shot was Cal Poly, in the 84th minute. In a case of déjà vu, the Mustangs ran the same play off two consecutive corner kicks to the same result. Both times, they got a clear look at the near post, and both times Mollerberg was on hand to block the shot, shutting down what would end up being the visitors' last goal-scoring chance.
The home team got one more opportunity to grab the win, but Nemo Philipp's long-range shot was not enough to beat the goalkeeper. Kaden Standish had a shot blocked in the final minute, but the Gauchos were not able to do anything with the resulting corner.
FROM THE STUDENT ATHLETES
Alexis Ledoux on the team's performance: "You can totally see the difference when we play here," Ledoux said. "Here, like coach said, you can make it a soccer game, which is our identity. We always want to try to play from the back, build through lines, and I thought we did it pretty well here, considering the running they put in place. I think we were just unlucky not to finish any goals tonight, we just have to stay after it. There are nights where it's not going to get in, and unfortunately tonight was one of those."
Ledoux on the Blue-Green Rivalry: "I'm from somewhere back in France where rivalries are taken very seriously. It's in my culture, it's in my identity and I know coming in here, in Santa Barbara, you know that the team you want to beat is Cal Poly."
BY THE NUMBERS
Since Tim Vom Steeg became head coach, the Gauchos have hosted the Mustangs 26 times and lost only once, going 17-1-8 in those 26 home Blue-Green Rivalry games.
UC Santa Barbara saw a crowd of 9,985 at Sunday afternoon's match, which is not only the highest single-game attendance in NCAA Division I Men's Soccer this season, but also the largest crowd for a men's soccer game at Harder Stadium since 2017.
UP NEXT
The Gauchos continue Big West play with their first conference road trip this week. Santa Barbara will pay visits to Cal State Bakersfield on Wednesday and UC Irvine on Saturday before returning to Harder Stadium on Oct. 16 to host UC Davis.
(Courtesy of UCSB Athletics)
