Last Friday night, after UCSB peppered the College of Charleston with 21 shots in a 3-1 soccer victory, Gaucho coach Tim Vom Steeg said, “I’m really excited about Monday” — when UCSB would face UCLA in Westwood, where the Gauchos had never beaten the Bruins.
Vom Steeg’s excitement was officially justified under the lights at Drake Stadium. In a brilliant effort, the Gauchos dismantled UCLA, the team ranked No. 1 in the preseason and the national runner-up last year, by a 4-2 score. It was UCSB’s fifth win in 42 matches against the Bruins, and on a sweetness scale, it was topped only by the Gauchos’ 2-1 triumph in the 2006 NCAA Final at St. Louis.
It was a come-from-behind effort. For the first time this season, the Gauchos (4-2-1) did not score the first goal of a match. But that did not do them any good in their two defeats, and it’s been said that the most important goal is the second one, which either expands a lead or shifts the momentum. UCSB got that goal when 6’4” junior striker Nick DePuy slammed in a header off a crackling cross by freshman Geoffrey Acheampong.