Gauchos stay unbeaten at home and take over first place in Big West

UC SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team scored four goals for the third time this season on Wednesday night, and the Gauchos needed all of them to come away with a 4-3 victory over CSUN. Kaden Standish, Nicolas Willumsen, Nemo Philipp and Alexis Ledoux all scored for Santa Barbara.

With the result and some help elsewhere, the Gauchos moved back into sole possession of first place in The Big West standings Wednesday night, putting them in control of their own destiny with just two matches to play. Santa Barbara could clinch The Big West Regular Season Championship and the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament as early as Saturday with a win and help.

FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG
"We went into halftime saying, 'you know, we're going to need two more goals here,' so we kept attacking, obviously we knew Alexis' goal was going to be huge, but yeah, we struggled trying to hold them up in midfield," Vom Steeg said. "At this point, a win is a win and that's what we said, whatever it takes to get it done, let's win the game.

"We have to enjoy the win tonight because it was a huge win for us, especially coming off of Sacramento, especially down players. We did get Ramses (Martinez) in for a few minutes, maybe he can give us more on Saturday, but we are going to have to figure out how to get through the last two games still missing our midfield."

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Gauchos started the match in complete control, scoring twice in the first 12 minutes. Ledoux was involved in both, setting up Standish in the fourth minute to start the festivities. The Frenchman won the ball back in the Gauchos' attacking third, took three touches down the left flank to find some space, then delivered a cross to the wide-open Standish at the penalty spot, where the sophomore thumped home a header.

It was Ledoux and Standish connecting again in the 12th minute as the Gaucho captain played a pinpoint cross-field ball to Standish 10 yards from goal, which Standish took one touch to control before firing goal-wards. His attempt was saved, but the rebound fell right at the feet of Willumsen, who tucked it home.

Despite dominating most of the opening half hour, the Gauchos' footing became shaky in the 27th minute, when a CSUN corner kick bounced through traffic in the penalty area to a Matador waiting at the back post and the guests pulled themselves back within one. Things then got really shaky in the 36th minute when CSUN leveled the game on a volleyed wondergoal from the top of the penalty area.

On the topic of the penalty area, Santa Barbara thought they had earned a penalty kick in the 38th minute when Calle Mollerberg had his shirt pulled on a corner kick, but those appeals were waved off, even after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review. However, four minutes later, the Gauchos did get their spot kick after another VAR check confirmed that Philipp had been knocked over. The German stepped up and converted the penalty himself to put Santa Barbara in front, 3-2 at halftime.

There were more fouls than shots in the first 15 minutes of play after halftime, with the clock hitting 65 minutes before the Gauchos scored their fourth goal of the game thanks to a magic moment from Ledoux. He was the first to reach Caden Vom Steeg's clearance in the center circle, taking off into 50 yards of open space. By the time he reached the penalty area, he had two defenders to hold off in his final strides, and he buried the ball in the bottom corner for his 13th goal of the season, celebrating with his family in the stands from France.

The Gauchos nearly got a fifth goal in the 74th minute, as Eddie Villeda found himself in acres of space 25 yards from goal and unleashed a line-drive shot which beat the goalkeeper but smashed off the crossbar.

Instead, it was the visitors scoring the game's next goal, doing so thanks to a well-flicked pass to the back post in the 78th minute. That score set up a nail-biting final 10 minutes for the home crowd, as the Gauchos defended their one-goal lead with all 11 players back. Goalkeeper David Mitzner was called into action twice, first smothering a relatively tame header at the back post in the 81st, then making an impressive reaction save to keep out a shot which deflected its way through multiple pairs of legs in the 87th. That would prove to be enough, as the Gauchos held on for the win.

BY THE NUMBERS
Alexis Ledoux's two assists in Wednesday night's match tie his single-game career high, with Wednesday being his first multi-assist game since transferring to UC Santa Barbara.
Ledoux's goal and two assists bring his points total up to 31 on the season, tying him with Nick DePuy's 2015 campaign for the 10th most points in a single season in Gaucho history. Ledoux's 13 goals are tied with Finn Ballard McBride's 2022 season for 11th most in program history.
Wednesday night was UC Santa Barbara's third four-goal game of the season; the last time the Gauchos scored four or more goals in at least three games was 2021, when they did so on five occasions.
Ethan Senter made his first start as a Gaucho and his Big West debut on Wednesday night, playing 65 minutes at the defensive midfield position.

UP NEXT
The Gauchos will play their final home match of the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 26, when they host Cal State Fullerton for Senior Night. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and UC Santa Barbara will celebrate its graduating seniors prior to the match. Fans can follow from afar by watching live on ESPN+ or with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.

(Article courtesy of UCSB Athletics)