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Piitsburgh Stuns UCSB at Santa Barbara Shootout

Box Score

Feb. 18, 2011

Santa Barbara, CA - The Gauchos dropped their first contest of the season at the hands of University of Pittsburgh in the second game of the 23rd Annual Santa Barbara Shootout for both teams. UCSB was coming off a 13-8 come from behind win over Michigan. Pittsburgh was coming off a 5-8 loss at the hands of Brigham Young University. The Gauchos started slow and trailed by a goal at halftime. Pittsburgh scored the first two goals of the second half to take a 7-3 lead with 12 minutes left in the game. Then UCSB rallied and scored four straight to tie it with 7 seconds remaining and get the game to overtime.

Seniors Ashley Antoon-Algieri (San Ramon, CA) and Alyssa Nelsen (Denver, CO) scored unassisted for the first two goals of the rally and it was 7-5 in favor of Pittsburgh with 4:31 left on the clock.  With 1:05 remaining Antoon-Algieri found Jordan Venetis (Thousand Oaks, CA) open and the junior buried it to pull UCSB within 1 goal. Pittsburgh won the draw control but the Gauchos gained control of it when the Panthers put it on the ground and UCSB moved onto offense. The air was thick with the supense of what would happen next. The UCSB offense got two shots off in quick succession in a bit of a scramble. Then on the last possession the Gauchos had the ball on the back up by junior Maegan Cruse (San Diego, CA) of a wide shot. Cruse won the ball on the endline. With a little wheeling and dealing Cruse went to goal and found just enough of an angle to take a right handed shot through the legs of the Pittsburgh goal keeper. It was 7-7 with 7 second left in regulation and the goal capped off an impropable come back by the Gauchos to get to overtime.

UCSB had erased a 4 goal deficit to come back from being down 3-7 to tie it and get a chance. In the overtime the Gauchos and Pittsburgh were even on shots at 2 apiece but it was Pittsburgh who scored to win it in overtime. The Panthers got their goal with 13 second left in the overtime and that was it. 

UCSB dropped to 4-1 overall on the season. Pittsburgh improved to 1-1.  Up next for the Gauchos is a game with the club from the University of Florida on Saturday in day two of the Shootout for both teams. Florida went 1-1 their first day with a 9-8 overtime win over Brigham Young University and a 7-6 loss to University of Colorado, Boulder.