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UCSB Leaps Over Lindenwood

Box Score

Feb. 20, 2011

Santa Barbara, CA - UCSB outscored Lindenwood University 12-10 in the final game of the Santa Barbara Shootout for both teams. Each team took 18 shots in a mostly evenly contested game. The Gauchos erased an early 4 goal deficit with a 5 goal run to come back by halftime and lead 7-6. The score was 6-2 in favor of the Lions with 7:32 left in the first half but the Gauchos rallied and scored 5 straight goals between the 5:52 mark and the 1:24 mark.

When freshman Katie Hubbert (San Jose, CA) assisted junior Maegan Cruse (San Diego, CA) with 1:43 remaining in the half it tied the score at 6-6. Then UCSB won the draw and on offense again Cruse was fouled on the way to goal. The attacker scored it with 1:24 left to cap off the run of 5 unanswered goals scored in 4 minutes and 28 seconds. The Gauchos had the ball again after a draw control and were waiting until 15 seconds to go to goal. The ball got loose in the Lindenwood defensive end and stayed loose for a while before the Lindenwood goalie ended up with it with about 2 seconds left in the half. It was not enough time for Lions to do anything with it. UCSB went into the intermission up 7-6.

"That run we made was amazing and then we were smart enough at the end of the half to aim for either a shot for us or no time for Lindenwood to get a shot," said UCSB head coach Paul Ramsey after the game.

The 5 goal UCSB run turned into a 7 goal run when the Gauchos scored the first 2 goals of the second half to go up 9-6. Then over the next 7 minutes of play UCSB outscored Lindenwood 2-1 to lead 11-7 with 11:25 to go in the game. Lindenwood got it close with 2 straight goals to make it 11-9 but sophomore Katie Mitchell (Lafayette, CA) and senior Alyssa Nelsen (Denver, CO) hooked up with a Nelsen feed to Mitchell that gave UCSB a 3 goal lead and command of the game. It left the Gauchos with only needing to win a draw and take care of the ball for 5 minutes and 30 seconds to finish out the game and keep the comeback. UCSB did that for just about all of it with the dangerous Lions only getting one more opportunity at goal. They converted it for the final 12-10 score but it was the only time they saw the ball at the end of the game.

Ramsey said, "Ahead by 2 with little time left at the end we just wanted to end the game with the ball and not even shoot at all," continued Ramsey, "so that's what we did."

UCSB was more than just smart in the middle of the game. Their center circle play, scrapping on the draws to get possession, defensive stops and saves all led to the opportunity to go on a 7 goal run. That run erased a 4 goal Lindenwood lead and put the Gauchos up by 3 goals. Cruse scored 4 in a row on 3 assisted goals and then on a free position shot during the UCSB rally in the first half. Senior Ashley Antoon-Algieri (San Ramon, CA) picked it up in the second half getting 3 of the 5 UCSB goals that stanza. Meanwhile, giving the offense all those opportunities was the play of the UCSB defense and junior goalie Jeni Centner (Tustin, CA) who had 6 second half saves. Sophomore Emilia Norlin (Mill Valley, CA) and freshman Abby Eastwood (Rumson, NJ) had 3 ground balls apiece to lead UCSB. Three may seem like a low number to be the the high in that statistic but Lindenwood didn't put the ball on the ground very often.

UCSB improved to 5-2 overall while Lindenwood dropped to 2-1. The Gauchos have a weekend off from action but host NCAA Division III St. John Fisher College on Monday, February 28th, in a 12:30pm exhibition game on the Rob Field turf. The Cardinals are from upstate New York and in Santa Barbara on a spring break training trip.