IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer hung with the No. 23 Gauchos with a field player starting in goal falling by a score of 1-0 Saturday night in Anteater Stadium.
A unique situation where all three rostered goalkeepers were unavailable with two injured and a third on a one-game suspension after receiving a red card last match. Redshirt freshman midfielder
Braden Ferreira got the call in goal against the high-octane UC Santa Barbara offense.
- The 'Eaters had the first two chances with headers from Agaton Pourshahidi in the eighth minute and Misael Gonzalez in the 12th as keeper David Mitzner made a leaping save on one to keep it scoreless
- The first chance against Ferreira came in hot with a loose ball to Alexis Ledoux at the left of the box on a line through traffic that Ferreira blocked back out of the box for a big save in the 13th minute
- The Gauchos continued to pressure and hold possession through a majority of the first half forcing Ferreira to make two more saves as the teams went to the locker room, 0-0
The second half began with renewed life for either side along with more physical play. After 10 fouls and one card in the first 45 minutes, two cautions were given in the first two minutes as the teams fought for ground
- Ferreira was back making two more saves on long-range shots in the first five minutes
- The breakthrough came in the 52nd minute as a long lead pass was cleared right to a Gaucho striker at the top of the box for a clinical finish by Ferreira and inside the far post for a 1-0 UCSB lead
- UC Irvine struggled to put up an sustained attack as the Gauchos played well to hold possession. The best chances late for the 'Eaters came on a low Mario Anaya strike from distance tipped to Mitzner in the 84th minute, and a Brady Treinen header on a halfline set piece that fell just far of the post in the 90th minute
The loss drops UCI to 4-7-1 on the season and 1-3 through four Big West matches. The loss puts UCI at 0-4 against ranked opponents with a draw against another opponent receiving national votes.
- Ferreira finished with six saves in his first start and minutes and goalkeeper at any level. He joins fellow field player Abraham Brown who drew the loss Wednesday in 30 minutes of relief work making two saves in his first-ever goalie minutes.
- UCI was out-shot 17-5 while putting two shots on frame
- An always tense Big West matchup concluded with 26 total fouls and nine cautions between the sides
Postmatch Quotes
Head Coach Yossi Raz -
"Obviously a tougher period in our locker room from an injury standpoint, but the commitment of the players in the locker room to stay the course and stay motivated, keep competing, keep trying to find solutions to the problems that arise is second to none. It's an illustration of the type of people they are, illustration of the character that they all carry, and I'm very, very proud of them for always staying committed to the goals they set up for themselves at the beginning of the season."
"It's clearly not a simple situation to overcome playing a full game and a half now with a field player in goal, but both players that were in goal were fantastic and the team in front of them were fantastic. We will get healthier, we will keep getting better, and the hope is that the end of their journey will bring a lot of happy moments to the locker room which I believe they deserve."
Abraham Brown -
"From the age of eight to 11 I was a goalkeeper, but that's just because I was the biggest kid on the team, but that was it. Mostly playing on instinct out there. The team out there knows so there's extra defending and they all have our back especially today, doing the best we can to protect Braden."
Braden Ferreira -
"I just wanted to have as much fun as I could. I was joking about it, but when coach called me, I told him it's a team sport. If you really me then I gotta do it for the team. Leading up to it I was just messing around telling everyone I'm just going to go out there and have fun and see what happens."
"Tonight it was all instinct. In my head I thought 'if I'm shooting this, where am I going?', and that's what I did and reacted off my instincts. As the game goes on you start to get comfortable, but even those plays were off instincts. If I saw the ball I'm going for the ball, that's what I did all night."
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