Long Beach State was beaten by UC Santa Barbara’s Katie Kepner as she floated her shot past goalie Kristen Stragier to score the deciding goal in sudden death overtime to propel the Gauchos to a 15-14 win at the 49er Campus Pool.
With the 49ers (8-20) down by three to start the fourth quarter of the Big West Conference tournament first-round match, Krizia Cerda showed why she was the team’s leading scorer as she scored four goals in the period to lead a furious comeback by the ‘Niners to send the game into overtime.
“We try to approach every quarter the same way every time,” LBSU head coach Gavin Arroyo said. “In this quarter, we were a bit emotional and we had our backs against the wall. [Cerda] was fully rested and she stepped up for us.”
During the first overtime, Cerda had a chance to put LBSU in the lead, but missed a crucial breakaway goal opportunity in the final minute of the first overtime. The Gauchos’ Nancy Ruano scored with 15 seconds remaining in the first overtime period to give UCSB a 14-13 lead.
In the second overtime period, Lauren Sieprath scored her third goal to tie the game at 14 apiece with two minutes remaining. UCSB goalie Ruth Milne made two crucial saves to stave off LBSU’s offense and send the game into the sudden death period.
Kepner scored the game winner at the two-minute mark to lift the Gauchos (18-10) to the victory and complete a hat trick of her own.
“It was the best we played all year,” Arroyo said. “Obviously, hosting the tournament, we had to come and show the best we could play and I thought we did that today. We played as good as we played all season and that was our goal today.”
Along with Cerda’s four goals, seven other 49ers scored, including three for Sieprath, two by Claire Martin, and one each from Katie Rogers, Chelsea Grabowski, Melissa Matheson, Courtney Elward and Meaghan Leonard.
This was the third time this season the ‘Niners scored 10 or more goals.
LBSU was down by as many as four the fourth quarter until a goal by Leonard ignited the rally. The 49ers went on a 6-2 run to end regulation.
The Gauchos will move on and play No. 2-seeded Cal State Northridge at 5:45 p.m. in a semifinal match on Saturday. The 49ers will play in the fifth-place game against UC Davis on Sunday at noon.
“We’ve learned a lot,” Arroyo said about the team’s development during the season. “Naturally, we got better as the season rolled along. These girls have worked hard all season.”
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