'Eaters Fall On The Road, 1-0

Wednesday, October 14

Santa Barbara, Calif.

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

4-6-3, 2-3-1

UC Santa Barbara

8-2-5, 3-1-2

Team	1	2	Final F
UC Irvine	0	0	0
UC Santa Barbara	1	0	1

Sara Paul makes a save in a 2026 match at UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: John Clingan | UCI Athletics

'Eaters Fall On The Road, 1-0

October 14, 2026 | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer dropped a road contest in Harder Stadium to UC Santa Barbara, 1-0, Wednesday night.

Harder To Handle

First half action was a little skewed toward the home side who had a pair of corner and shots before the 'Eaters in the first 20 minutes
The Gauchos added the first goal in the 21st minute
- A set piece along the right sideline was sent into the mixer and cleared out, but it found Ava Jarolimek who fired toward goal through a crowd and got help from a screen as it flew by and into the net for a 1-0 UCSB lead
UCI responded with its first shot soon after as Clara Samson in her first match back after an injury fired on goal that was saved.
The offenses grew stagnant down the final 20 minutes of the half with just one UCSB shot wide in the 41st minute and one foul of the three total in the half as the hosts took their 1-0 lead into the break.

Stepping It Up

The Anteaters entered the second half with some fire earning all of the chances in the first 15 minutes
- UCI had four shots and a corner kick in a five-minute span including Mimi Dominguez and Jasmyne Wheeler turning tries on target
The Gauchos grabbed the momentum back and looked to add to their lead, but UCI keeper Sara Paul making her first career start held them off
Paul dove to make her first career save in the 65th minute, and did the same on shots in the 75th and 82nd minutes to keep UCSB from extending their 1-0 lead
UC Irvine could not figure out UCSB on the other end until the very last gasp of the match with Mimi Dominguez putting a shot up as time expired that went high

UC Santa Barbara 1, UC Irvine 0

The 'Eaters dropped three points of the second straight match now 4-6-3 on the season and 2-3-1 in Big West play with seven points.
Paul finished with three saves in net, the first three in the fifth-year's career. It was also her first career start now with a record of 1-1 on the season.
Alongside Clara Samson's return was Taylor Esparza playing 11 minutes off the bench recovered from an injury
The match saw seven total fouls including three for the 'Eaters where two drew a caution to Mimi Yamamoto and Chifumi Sasaki.
The Gauchos finished with the advantage in shots, 11-7, and corners, 7-1, as well.

UCI now prepares for a pivotal Black and Blue Rivalry matchup in Anteater Stadium on Saturday, October 14, kicking off at 6:00 p.m. with both on the outside looking in at the Big West postseason.