The UC Santa Barbara Women’s Soccer team is set to host their final two Big West matchups before finishing the regular season on the road. On Thursday, Oct. 12 the Gauchos will host CSUN while on Sunday, Oct. 15 they will welcome Cal State Bakersfield to Harder Stadium.
LAST TIME OUT
UC Santa Barbara played just one game last week. The Gauchos traveled to La Jolla to take on UC San Diego. The Gauchos would fall 2-1. They now sit at 3-5-7 overall and 1-3-2 in The Big West.
CSUN is also coming off a week in which they played just one match. The Matadors lost 3-1 at home against Long Beach State and moved to 1-10-3 overall and 1-2-2 in The Big West.
Cal State Bakersfield played two matches last weekend going 0-1-1. On Thursday, Oct. 5 the Roadrunners fell 2-0 to Hawai’i at home. On Sunday, Oct. 8 Bakersfield played to a 2-2 draw with UC Riverside and are 2-7-4 overall and 1-2-3 in Big West action.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE GAUCHOS
All three wins on the season for the Gauchos have come inside the friendly confines of Harder Stadium. Sitting just two points out of a spot in The Big West Championships, the Gauchos look to finish their home matches on a high note and catapult themselves into postseason play.
Four Gauchos have scored multiple goals on the season. Leading the charge is Lauren Helwig with four, just behind her is Olivia Howard with three and Jessica Tamayo and Manuri Alwis both have two apiece. Overall, the Gauchos have scored 16 times from nine different student-athletes.
The Gauchos have seen three faces in net, each with four or more starts and recording over 400 minutes played. The trio has combined for 48 saves, four shutouts and a 1.40 goals-against average. Maddie Buckley leads the keepers in minutes with just over 505 minutes, Hinz leads in goals-against average with a 1.03, and Taylor Little leads the team with 17 saves.
SCOUTING THE MATADORS
CSUN comes into the contest tied with the Gauchos in points in The Big West standings. The Matadors collected their first win of the season against Cal State Bakersfield on Sept. 28. Like UC Santa Barbara the Matadors sit two points out of a potential spot in The Big West Championships.
Izabel Reyes leads the team with three goals, two assists and eight points. Reyes has recorded a goal in two of the past three games for CSUN, including a three-point outing in the win over Bakersfield. Sitting just behind her with two goals is forward Ashley Cruz. Cruz scored the lone goal for CSUN in their last contest against Long Beach State which saw the Matadors fall 3-1.
Goalkeeper Hayden Mauldin has started all 14 matches for CSUN this season recording 77 saves and a 0.762 save percentage. She ranks in the top five of both categories in The Big West. CSUN is allowing just about 1.80 goals per match which ranks second to last in the conference.
SCOUTING THE ROADRUNNERS
Cal State Bakersfield with a 1-1-1 record over their past three matches. The Roadrunners stunned Long Beach on Sunday, Oct. 1 as they defeated The Beach 3-0. Bakersfield is currently one point ahead of UC Santa Barbara in the standing and one point out of the last Big West Championship spot.
In the ‘Runners 3-0 win over Long Beach State Jette Zimmer recorded a goal and assist in the contest and leads the team with six points. Bakersfield has two other multi-goal scorers on the season in Dome Rodriguez and Stevie Reynolds. Rodriguez has recorded at least one point in two of the past three games. Reynolds scored her two goals in the win over Long Beach State.
The backline and goalkeeping are where the ‘Runners struggle. The Bakersfield defense has allowed a league-high two goals per contest while averaging under a goal a match. Hollie Hercik has started 12 of their 13 matches making 54 saves and posting a 0.720 save percentage.
FOLLOW ALONG
Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com. Thursday’s match against CSUN will kick off at 7 p.m. while Sunday’s contest against Bakersfield will start at 1 p.m.
Before Sunday’s match, UC Santa Barbara will honor 10 seniors on the Women’s Soccer team in recognition of Senior Day.
