Buba Fofanah put the UCSB men’s soccer team in position to win its third Big West Conference match, but Cal State Bakersfield avoided defeat with a late equalizer as the contest ended in a 1-1 tie.
“You know, up until now, one goal has been good enough,”said UC Santa Barbara coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “We just got tired.”
The Gauchos had a rough trip back from Wednesday’s match at UC Davis with the team bus breaking down and forcing the team to stay on the road an extra day.
In the 52nd minute, Fofanah gathered a pass off a short corner kick, slipped through two defenders and finished through the goalkeeper’s legs.
Freshman Owen Beninga has been dominant in goal during conference play and that continued against the visiting Roadrunners.
In the 65th minute, Beninga made a great save sprawling to his right. After the rebound went to a Bakersfield attacker, he scrambled to his feet and was able to deflect the follow-up shot away from the goal line before it could cross.
“Great goalkeeping, honestly. He made three crazy saves in the second half,” Vom Steeg said. “The frustrating thing was, in the first half when we had control of the game, we had those three or four looks without scoring a goal.”
Bakersfield ended Beninga’s 531 minute shutout streak in the 81st minute with a header off a free kick.
The Gauchos will travel to UC San Diego for their next match on Wednesday, beginning at 7 p.m.
