Gauchos erupt in second half to advance to Big West Championship final; Cal Poly losses to UCI
Mike Klan
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT). –
Top-Seeded UC Santa Barbara Earns 3-2 Triumph Over No. 5 Seed UC Davis in Championship Semifinals
Top-seeded and Big West regular-season tri-champion UC Santa Barbara defeated No. 5 seed UC Davis by a final score 3-2, Saturday at Harder Stadium in the semifinal round of the 2025 Big West Men’s Soccer Championship. The Gauchos advance and will host No. 2 seed UC Irvine on Friday, Nov. 14 for the Big West Championship title.
UC Santa Barbara improves to a 7-4-8 overall record. UC Davis ends its season with a 4-9-6 overall record.
UCSB scored all three of its goals in the second half, while the Aggies scored once in each half. UC Santa Barbara goalkeeper Owen Beninga made six saves throughout the game, while Noah Schwengeler stopped three shots for UC Davis.
Both teams started the match creating early opportunities, combining for 22 first-half shots. In the 38th minute, UC Davis sophomore midfielder Ben Elkins broke the deadlock, scoring on a header with a volley assist from sophomore defender Carson Hammond, to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead at halftime.
A 12-minute Gaucho run in the second half put the game away. Trailing 1-0, sophomore defender Calle Mollerberg hit the equalizer in the 58th minute and junior midfielder Kaden Standish gave the Gauchos the lead in the 61st.
(Standish scored to give UCSB the lead for good. Etenza Design).
Junior midfielder Dominick Phanco made it a 3-1 game, hitting the back of the net in the 70th minute. Mollerberg scored by collecting a loose ball in the box after a corner kick. Standish’s goal came on a strike from the top of the box. The third score was a pass from graduate forward Buba Fofanah on the right side that found Phanco’s feet flanking the left side.
FROM HEAD COACH TIM VOM STEEG”I’ve learned that there is very little that I say [in terms of halftime speeches] because most of the players already at this point in the year kind of know it,” Vom Steeg said. “But you don’t always know what kind of response you’re going to get. You’re always looking for moments and times and I’ve spent more time this year dealing with individual players than necessarily the collective group, but what’s been unique about our experience this year is we have had players who might have checked themselves out for not having a lot of minutes, we’ve had a lot of (those) players really stayed after it. So, you can give the speech … you can say that all day long, but ultimately a player has to have enough character and believe in the fact that they may get an opportunity … Dom, it’s kind of a Cinderella story in terms of him getting that goal; that’s the culmination of him showing up every day at training and playing hard, even though the minutes weren’t there at the beginning of the year.”
The Aggies narrowed the gap to 3-2 when senior forward Cason Goodman’s header went in, in the 81st minute, assisted by Gavin House and senior defender Luke Goodman. Despite several attempts, UC Davis was unable to find the equalizer before time expired.
Second-Seeded UC Irvine Advances to Big West Championship Finale after 1-0 Victory Over Cal Poly
(Courtesy Big West photos)
In a battle of two Big West regular-season tri-champions, host and No. 2 seed UC Irvine secured a 1-0 victory over third-seeded Cal Poly in the semifinal round of the 2025 Big West Men’s Soccer Championship powered by a goal in the 84th minute on Saturday at Anteater Stadium.
The Anteaters (10-3-6) advance to take on the No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara on Friday from Harder Stadium. This will be UCI’s eighth championship finale appearance as they’ll be trying for the program’s sixth league title. The two sides played to a scoreless draw in the regular-season meeting back on Oct. 25, also contested in Santa Barbara, Calif.
The home team outshot Cal Poly 11-8, with four shots on goal, while UC Irvine’s goalkeeper Joe O’Shaughnessy recorded three saves to maintain a shutout and secure the Anteaters’ ninth clean sheet of the season.
UC Irvine and Cal Poly played to a tense start in the first half, with both teams unable to break the deadlock. UCI’s Marcus Lee had an early opportunity, but his shot in the third minute was saved by Big West Goalkeeper of the Year Nicky McCune. Cal Poly responded with multiple attempts, including a shot by Sean McTague in the fifth minute stopped by O’Shaughnessy.
The game-winner came off the foot of junior Gage Lyons, assisted by Misael Gonzalez Lopez and Marcus Lee, to break the deadlock with just six minutes to play. The team effort on offense was showcased by Lyons, Isaac Powell, Lee and Agaton Pourshahidi each finishing the match with one shot on goal apiece in the victorious effort.
Cal Poly forward McTague led the offensive efforts for the Mustangs with three shots, two of which were on target. Both UCI’s O’Shaughnessy and McCune of Cal Poly recorded three saves in the hotly-contested battle. Cal Poly caps the season at 9-6-5 overall.
(Articles courtesy of Big West and UCSB Athletics)