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| No. 1 seed UC Riverside 1, No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara 0 |
Box score |
UCR presser
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Top-seeded regular-season victor and host UC Riverside got a first-half goal from substitute Luka Lukic and made it hold up to edge second-seeded defending champion UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, in the final of the 2022 Big West Men’s Soccer Championship in front of 1,135 spectators at UCR Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.
From being picked fourth in the preseason poll, the Highlanders earned the second Big West Championship title in program history exactly two weeks after a first-ever regular-season crown, all under the tutelage of first-time Big West Coach of the Year Tim Cupello.
UC Riverside is The Big West’s automatic qualifier into the 48-team NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship. That field will be announced live on
NCAA.com on Monday, Nov. 14, at 10 a.m. PT.
A season-best fourth win in a row moves UC Riverside to 8-7-4 overall and 6-1-2 at home in 2022. The Highlanders went 5-0-1 over their last six home dates by an aggregate score of 15-3. UC Santa Barbara’s campaign is likely done at 10-4-6.
The first shot from either side on the night came from UCR’s Leopoldo Hernandez in the eighth minute, but the All-Big West First Team selection’s right-footer from distance was parried away by Leroy Zeller in the Gaucho goal. UCSB wasn’t credited with its first attempt until the 18th, but Lucas Gonzalez’s direct free kick was never going to trouble Carlos Gonzalez, like Zeller The Big West Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.
UCR had a sequence where it nearly broke the deadlock in the 26th minute. Oscar Penate’s shot from a tight angle on the right was slapped out for a corner. On the ensuing try, the ball was headed at the far post back into the middle, where Adrian Meade-Tatum banged his shot off the underside of the crossbar, with Hernandez putting the rebound wide.
Big West Offensive Player of the Year Finn Ballard McBride, the 2021 Big West Championship Most Valuable Player and the league’s leading goal-scorer with a career-high 13, finally got off the mark in the 33rd, getting his head to a left-sided cross, but Gonzalez went down to the left to make a first save for the night. Ballard McBride came even closer to finding the target in the 36th, rising high this time for a right-sided Alexis Ledoux cross, but Gonzalez was again equal to the task with a dive down to the right. The rebound was blocked out for a corner kick.
In the 43rd minute just before the break, the home side made that crucial dent in the scoreboard. Timon Windisch fouled Lukic from behind about 30-35 yards from goal on the right side. Brendan Clark sent a left-footed free kick into the 18 that took one hop before Lukic popped it up off the chest and headed home from inside of six yards. It was a fourth goal for Lukic, and a seventh assist for Clark, who had joined Gonzalez and Hernandez on the All-Big West First Team.
Not a lot happened following the halftime interval, as the two teams combined for three shots that were not directed on goal, and two corner kicks, both by the Highlanders. The first of those corner kicks around the 80th did almost set up a clincher, as Issa Badawiya whipped in from the left but Meade-Tatum’s glancing header went off to the right.
Gonzalez was attributed four saves for UCR for a fifth clean sheet this season and 10 for the fourth-year junior’s college career. The product of Santa Ana was named The Big West Championship MVP following the final whistle. Gonzalez has played every minute thus far for the Highlanders, now at 1,710.
Zeller was credited with three saves to push the junior over the 150-save mark as a second-year Gaucho, now with 152. The native of Zülpich, Germany, likewise played every minute in 2022, with 1,820. UCSB held a narrow edge in shots for the game, 8-6.
UCR had busted open a 1-1 game at halftime and taken a 4-1 decision over UCSB, also at home, in the regular-season finale for both sides back on Oct. 29. That result had vaulted the Highlanders over the Gauchos by one point to clinch The Big West regular-season title.
UCR is now a perfect 2-0 in Big West finals, with its home triumphs in 2018 and on Saturday. UC Santa Barbara was after a third tournament crown after 2010 and 2021. The Gauchos are 2-6 following their record eighth final. Saturday night marked the first time the sides faced off for the championship trophy.
The Highlanders will be making their second NCAA Championship appearance, having lost 1-0 to Pacific in Fresno in the 2018 first round.
Gallery: (11-12-2022) Men's Soccer Championship - UCSB at UCR