SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- UC Irvine made a valiant effort against UC Santa Barbara Thursday night in Harder Stadium, but the Gauchos made an early goal stand up to win 1-0.
UCSB (6-5-1, 2-0-1) got its tally in the 10th minute as Josue Espana played a ball to the left side of the box. Ahinga Selemani slashed back inside and delivered a strike inside the far post to make it 1-0, Gauchos.
UCI (2-10, 0-3) kept its head getting its share of chances including efforts on target from Ivan Canales and Mario Ortiz. The Anteaters still trailed by one at the break.
The 'Eaters nearly leveled the match with a prime opportunity in the 48th minute. Mario Ortiz couldn't quite keep the ball down and smacked the crossbar coming inches away from a goal, but the match remained 1-0.
The match continued evenly until the 75th minute with a straight red card to UCSB's Andy Perez leaving the Gauchos a man down the rest of the way.
UCI would push forward and get chances on frame from Canales again and Giovanni Godoy, but UCSB's Titouan Le Roux was up to the task stopping all five shots on target to preserve the 1-0 shutout.
Alex Waldron made two saves on his end while the offense outshot the Gauchos, 9-8, with over half of their shots on goal.
The 'Eaters got contributions from new faces in the match as Edgardo Molina and Corey Schramm made their 2016 debuts, and freshman Logan Wyner played 44 minutes in his collegiate debut for head coach Chris Volk.
UCI drops to 2-10 on the year, and remains winless through three Big West matches, and have one remaining against the North Division coming Saturday, October 8 at Cal Poly.Â
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