The way things were unfolding at Drake Stadium, the UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer team seemed insistent that one upset deserved another.
But by the time the final horn sounded, the No. 13 Bruins (4-1-1) escaped without severe blemish as they played the Gauchos (3-3-1) to a 1-1 tie through double overtime on Sunday in the finale of the 2010 UCLA Women’s Cup.
The box score indicated that the Bruins outshot the Gauchos 30-10, but it was the latter that kept the former on their heels throughout most of the match, nearly scoring the game-winner on two separate occasions after halftime.
It was a less-than-fulfilling performance for a UCLA team coming off an upset win over No. 3 Notre Dame on Friday.
“It’s always a tough battle with (UCSB),” coach Jillian Ellis said. “I told the team that the mark of a good team is consistency, so in not really addressing a letdown, we addressed a letdown. We’ve definitely got to be able to play on a Sunday after playing on a Friday.”
Initially, the Bruins seemed poised to take the Gauchos out early, averaging a shot per minute in the first seven minutes of play. But UCSB seized the momentum thereafter, eventually scoring on a blooper play in the 23rd minute.
Senior Kylie Wright, a midfielder who played in the back line on Sunday, attempted to clear the ball out of the box on the play, but it bounced off the back of Gaucho senior midfielder Kailyn Kugler and into the net to give the visiting team the early 1-0 lead.
Nineteen minutes later, UCLA was awarded a penalty kick after UCSB fouled freshman midfielder Jenna Richmond inside the penalty box, but junior forward Sydney Leroux’s ensuing shot deflected off the lower right post.
The Gauchos nearly extended the lead in the 60th minute after junior forward Alissa Sanchez’s shot almost entered the post but was cleared out by sophomore junior goalkeeper Chante’ Sandiford.
The Bruins were then given another penalty kick in the 67th minute, though not without controversy.
After a UCSB player fouled sophomore forward Zakiya Bywaters, the referees ruled that the penalty occurred inside the box, giving senior defender Lauren Barnes a chance to even the score.
And no sooner than four minutes after Barnes’ eventual conversion, UCSB coach Paul Stumpf was ejected after being issued a red card for protesting the play.
It was that kind of game for both teams, and it only figured to get wilder as the match wore on.
“We tried to keep the referees out of it completely,” UCLA senior midfielder Elise Britt said. “We knew on both sides that it wasn’t exactly what we were expecting, so we just tried to put it out of our minds while we were playing.”
After the regulation period came to an end with the score still tied, UCSB initially appeared to have won the game when senior forward Kylie McDonald fired a shot that found the net in the 95th minute, but it was called back after the referees deemed that McDonald had committed a foul on the same play.
Neither team would go on to score during the two allotted overtime periods, ending the match in a draw.
The Gauchos wound up with a total of five yellow cards along with the red card issued against them, though they still had the Bruins scrambling in spurts.
“It was more about mentality than anything,” Barnes said. “It had nothing to do with our physical status or how we played because we’re all great players, but it was our mentality that was lacking in this game.”
Barnes takes a hit
After scoring on the penalty kick in the 76th minute, Barnes was taken out after being hit in the face by the ball, blurring her vision in her left eye. There was no official word as to her availability for the Bruins’ next game on the road against the University of Denver on Friday.