UC Santa Barbara
Gaschen Golden Goal Gives Cal Poly Historic Win
10/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – Senior midfielder Junior Burgos opened the scoring Wednesday evening, but sophomore midfielder Chris Gaschen's 93rd-minute match-winning strike helped the Cal Poly men's soccer program snap a seven-contest winless streak against UC Santa Barbara with a 2-1 victory at Alex G. Spanos Stadium in front of the 13th-largest regular season attendance figure in NCAA history.
Junior goalkeeper Patrick McLain backed Cal Poly's triumph with seven saves as the Mustangs (6-4-3, 3-2-2) posted their first triumph against UC Santa Barbara (10-4-2, 6-2-0) since a 2-1 home win on Oct. 17, 2007. Cal Poly's victory, televised nationally on Fox Soccer Channel, also silenced the seven-match winning streak UC Santa Barbara owned entering the match.
Less than three minutes into overtime, Gaschen (above) flagged down a pass on the right side of the UC Santa Barbara penalty from junior midfielder Jake Hustedt. Gaschen immediately fired past Gaucho senior goalkeeper Sam Hayden and into the right corner of the UC Santa Barbara net to send most of the 8,125 supporters on hand into a frenzied celebration.
"It was a beautiful goal and Chris took it so well," said fifth-year Cal Poly head coach Paul Holocher, whose Mustangs reversed a 2-1 road defeat suffered against the Gauchos on Oct. 12. "His movement off the ball was superb with the way he peeled off the shoulder of the defender. I couldn't be happier for Chris."
UC Santa Barbara placed four of its initial five shot attempts on target, but it was Burgos who tallied the opening goal during the ninth minute. Burgos, who became just the second Mustang to score in consecutive matches this season, corralled a cross from junior forward Tim White and took a pair of touches before slotting a shot past Hayden into the bottom right corner.
The Gauchos, who outshot Cal Poly during the first half, 16-5, leveled the scoreline in the 20th, as freshman forward David Opoku dribbled through the center of the Mustang penalty area and, after creating sufficient space, scored from 12 yards away.
UC Santa Barbara forced McLain into six first-half saves, but mustered just seven shot attempts between the second half and overtime period.
The Mustangs, meanwhile, crept closer toward the clinching goal. In the 51st, a header by junior center back Patrick Sigler from a Burgos corner was caught by Hayden. Hustedt worked his way past the Gaucho defense in the 59th before firing a point-blank shot into the midsection of a sprawling Hayden, who spilled the ball. Cal Poly was unable to control the initial rebound and freshman forward George Malki eventually fired high over the Gaucho crossbar.
Gaschen, who netted the only goal in Cal Poly's 1-0 season-opening victory at Denver on Sept. 3, eventually found Cal Poly's way past Hayden.
"I've always known we're a good team and we've played great competition all year long," Holocher added. "We've had some tough losses, but the team showed immense character tonight and played superbly in the second half, changing the course of the game with a lot of energy."
Cal Poly continues its Big West campaign at UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 12 noon.
