SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The San Diego State men’s soccer team (2-3-3) lost at No. 25 UC Santa Barbara (4-1-2) 2-0 Thursday evening.
"All credit to UC Santa Barbara. They imposed their identity on us," Head coach Ryan Hopkins said after the match. "We showed fight to stay in the match, but you can't spot top teams goals and expect to come out on top."
The Gauchos wasted no time and scored 66 seconds into the match. Steinar Bjornsson finished an assist from Peleg Brown and Donovan Sessoms. UCSB also had two shots in the first half that went off the post.
The Aztecs’ Carson Ballagh nearly scored in the 37th minute, but the Gauchos goalkeeper Owen Beninga made a diving save.
UCSB added to their lead in the 55th minute on a Donovon Sessoms goal.
SDSU goalkeeper Nic Diana played the first 57 minutes and then Trevor Wilson came in and made four saves.
THE NOTE
The Aztecs played a season-high 24 players with all of them playing for at least 16 minutes. Freshman Owen Faris made his first career start.
UP NEXT
The Aztecs play at Santa Clara Sunday at 7:30 p.m.