No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 9, No. 7 Long Beach State 6
LONG BEACH, Calif. -- UC Santa Barbara opened its weekend games with a 9-6 win against No. 7 Long Beach State.
Long Beach State jumped out in front with the first goal of the game. A minute after, junior Eric Van de Mortel tallied a goal for the Gauchos to tie the game. With 0:35 left in the first quarter, senior Matt Gronow scored to help the Gauchos take the lead 2-1 heading into the second quarter.
Eric Van de Mortel scored his second goal of the game to open the second period. The 49ers were able to score another goal, giving the Gauchos a tight lead. Both teams were able to tally another goal, with the Gauchos leading 4-3. From there, UCSB took control of the game. With two goals from sophomore Kevin Cappon, a goal from Matt Gronow, and another goal from sophomore Ryan Baliani, UC Santa Barbara finished the first half up 7-3.
The third quarter consisted mostly of great defense on both ends of the pool. The 49ers kept the Gauchos scoreless, while UCSB only allowed one goal in for Long Beach State. Sophomore Chris Whitelegge had a remarkable penalty block at the end of the quarter to help the Gauchos on the defensive end.
The 49ers opened the fourth quarter with a goal before the Gauchos answered right back with two of their own. Long Beach State was able to score one more goal, but it wasn't enough as UCSB defeated the 49ers 9-6.
No. 20 Brown 11, No. 10 Concordia (Calif.) 10
No. 10 Concordia (Calif.) 14, Fresno Pacific 10
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Brown used a four-goal opening frame to take a narrow lead over Concordia (Calif.), but the Eagles answered with four of their own in the third to tie things at 8-8 headed into the fourth quarter. James McNamara scored twice to put the Bears up 10-9, but a Concordia goal with 2:07 left in regulation knotted the score again. McNamara wasn't finished, however, and sank the go-ahead tally with just 1:16 to go to help his team prevail.
Against Fresno Pacific, No. 10 Concordia got ahead early and held a 10-2 lead in the first half. FPU fought their way back in the second half scoring four goals in third and fourth quarters.
Despite outscoring the Eagles 8-4 in the second half, the Sunbids couldn't complete a comeback in the 14-10 loss. The four-goal loss was the closest loss to any top-10 team in the Sunbirds history.
