UCSB was fit to be tied for much of the men’s soccer season, but starting Saturday night in the Big West tournament semifinals, it was win or go home.
The Gauchos responded with three second-half goals to knock off UC Davis, 3-2, setting up a championship match at Harder Stadium next Friday night, November 14, against UC Irvine.
“There’s something about this team,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said. “It doesn’t want to lose.”
The Gauchos ran their unbeaten streak to 13 consecutive matches over the past two months – five wins and eight ties – including a pair of scoreless draws against Davis and Irvine during the regular season. They did score a 1-0 victory at Cal Poly, which enabled them to secure the No.1 seed in the postseason tournament and a bye in the first round.
Against the Davis Aggies, who had played three nights earlier, the Gauchos went on the attack early but failed to score. It was the visitors who took a 1-0 lead when Ben Elkins finished off a ball played over the top of the defense.
The Gauchos increased their offensive pressure in the second half. Steinar Bjornsson ripped a shot off the crossbar in the 55th minute, and shortly later Kaden Standish sent a hard shot off the goalkeeper, earning a corner kick.
Calle Mollerberg took a close-range shot off the corner kick. It was blocked, but he rebounded it into the net to tie the score, 1-1.
Standish put the Gauchos ahead in the 61st minute, pouncing on another blocked shot near the top of the box and rifling it past the goalkeeper.
It was a special moment for Standish. The senior had taped to his wrist a heart with the inscription “10/9.” It was a tribute to his grandfather, Bob Standish, who died October 9 in Novato.
“He used to watch all my games on ESPN-plus,” Standish said.
Dominick Phanco increased the lead to 3-1 in the 70th minute, putting himself in position to score after creating a turnover at midfield. Buba Fofanah, who created several chances as a second-half substitute, played a ball past Zac Siebeinlist’s dummy move to an unmarked Phanco on the left side.
“I was screaming at Zac, let the ball go, please, please leave it,” Phanco said. “I was wide open and tucked it in near post.”
It was the first collegiate goal by Phanco, a junior from Florida.
“That’s a culmination of him training hard,” Vom Steeg said. “We have a roster of guys who stay after it.”
It paid off for the Gauchos to open up the game in the second half. They needed all three goals, because Davis cut the score to 3-2 when Cason Goodman lifted a header over UCSB keeper Owen Beninga in the 82nd minute.
Luke Goodman, Cason’s twin brother, got credit for an assist on the goal. Both Goodmans played at Santa Barbara High, and Saturday’s match brought a bittersweet end to their careers at Davis. Cason notched a total of 25 goals in four years, including both scores in the 2024 Big West championship when the Aggies upset the Gauchos, 2-0.
UCSB was able to secure an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament last year. The only sure way for the Gauchos to advance in this postseason is to win next Friday. UC Irvine blanked Cal Poly, 1-0, in the other semifinal.
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