With five of their last seven matches going to overtime, and eight of their last nine games being decided by one goal or less, Wednesday night’s nationally televised Cal Poly-UC Santa Barbara didn’t disappoint the tradition.
Cal Poly (6-5-2, 3-2-2 Big West) scored its second golden goal of the season against UC Santa Barbara (10-4-2, 6-2-0) in the third minute of overtime to claim their first win against their central coast rivals since Oct. 17 2007.
Both teams began the game fighting for early goals, with Cal Poly taking three shots and UC Santa Barbara taking five shots in the first seven minutes of play.
But it would be Cal Poly that scored first off a goal from senior Junior Burgos who was assisted by junior Tim White. Junior’s second goal comes on the heels of his first goal of the season, which helped Cal Poly defeat UC Davis 2-1 last week. In his third and last year with the team, the victory was Junior’s first against UC Santa Barbara. He said it couldn’t have felt any better to win and score a goal in the victory.
“It’s amazing” Burgos said. “Ever since I’ve been here we’ve never been able to beat (UC Santa Barbara). It feels good to get the win at home. We owed it to the fans … It’s a feeling I can’t describe and this is one of the best times of my life.”
Cal Poly’s early lead did not deter UC Santa Barbara as they continued to drill junior goalie Patrick McLain in one of its highest shooting halves of the season.
UC Santa Barbara took 16 shots in the first half, and McLain made six saves before one shot got through in the 20th minute, tying the game at one a piece.
In trouble after the first half, head coach Paul Holocher turned the game around with a more defensive strategy and pulled one of the forwards back to midfield.
The result was a scoreless second half with Cal Poly holding UC Santa Barbara to only seven shots.
In its sixth overtime of the season, it did not take long for Cal Poly to seal its long-awaited win against the Gauchos.
Just over two minutes into the first overtime, junior Jake Hustedt dribbled the ball up field while sophomore Chris Gaschen peeled away from the Santa Barbara center back to one-timed a pass from Huestedt into the back of the net for the winning goal.
The stands erupted with cheers and the fences surrounding the bleachers could not contain the excitement of Cal Poly fans as thousands of the 8,125 attending the game rushed the field to hail the victorious players.
In a whirlwind of excitement, Gaschen said he lost himself in the moment and couldn’t even recall details of the goal.
“I actually don’t remember my foot hitting the ball or seeing the ball going into the back of the net,” Gaschen said, with a laugh. “I just put my head down and hit it and just knew it went in.”
Gaschen said he was overwhelmed when the fans rushed the field — it is something he’s never seen in soccer before.
“I didn’t know what to expect, I was just astounded,” Gaschen said. “You know you turn around and there’s 8,000 people running at you. It’s scary but it was so sweet. It’s incredible.”
Even Holocher was awed by the sight of the fans rushing the field and said he wanted to run in with the fans himself.
“Its euphoric. It was awesome,” Holocher said. “It’s great that sports can bring that much joy to people. I just wanted to run in there and kind of just jump around and hug people…everyone’s been working so hard, you just have to take in these moments. I look around and people are dancing on the field, and you’ve got grown men on the field hugging. It’s just a giant party at the end of the game.”
The victory propelled Cal Poly past UC Davis in Big West standings into fourth place, just one point behind Cal State Fullerton.
Cal Poly’s next game will be on the road against UC Davis on Oct. 30th.