With a host of new contributors in key roles, the UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer team is rounding into form early in non-conference play.
The Gauchos took a giant leap forward on Thursday night at Harder Stadium with a 3-0 victory over visiting North Florida.
“Each game we play we’re going to get better. We’ve added twelve new players to the squad,” said UC Santa Barbara coach Tim Vom Steeg. “Every player that came into the game added and contributed.”
UC Santa Barbara dominated the run of play in the early going and created several solid goal-scoring opportunities to no avail. The Gauchos outshot the Ospreys 9-2 in the first half, which included a 4-0 advantage in shots on goal.
The breakthrough finally came for the Gauchos in the 34th minute when Kaden Standish made a pass to Steinar Bjornsson down the left side into the 18-yard box. Bjornsson beat his man tight-roping the end line and delivered a left-footed flick to Ramses Martinez, who buried a right-footed shot from straight on off the volley.
“It’s important to finish our chances against teams like [North] Florida. They are a really good team. They broke our press multiple times, so getting a goal in the first half is very important,” Martinez said. “Once we got the goal, it gave us momentum, and we were able to establish possession and create more chances.”
The Ospreys appeared to find their footing early in the second half drawing a yellow card on Haruki Utsumi in the 48th minute in dangerous free kick position and having a no-call on a tackle in the box that was reviewed by VAR in the 51st minute for a potential penalty kick.
However, the Gauchos weathered the storm and got a boost when North Florida’s Alex Barnett was sent off with a red card due to a sloppy challenge in the 60th minute.
14 minutes later, UC Santa Barra put the match in the choke hold with a lethal counter attack. Drew Kamienski ignited the play with a clutch stop in the box to dispossess North Florida and moments later Zac Siebenlist collected his own rebound and scored to the bottom right of goal.
The Gauchos once again turned defense into offense and tacked on another goal in the 89th minute when Thomas Noordegraaf selflessly dumped the ball to Mateos Carvalho in the box for a tap-in goal.
“The pressing part happens when everybody knows what’s behind them and they’re comfortable with the players around them so you trust people,” Vom Steeg said. “Tonight, I thought the guys trusted each other, they were committed, and when one guy went, the second guy went behind them, and that made all the difference for us.”
It was a solid victory for the Gauchos as North Florida reached the NCAA tournament last season and defeated Wisconsin on the road earlier this season.
With the win UC Santa Barbara improves to 2-1 on the season and will host Westmont in the 62nd Community Shield game on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
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