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(November 17, 2007) -UCR
produced one of their best played matches of the season Saturday
night, playing to a 1-1 tie with defending national champion
#9 UC Santa Barbara in their final match of the season. Senior
Steven Kaufman’s second goal of the season tied the
game in the 63rd minute for UCR who ends the season with a
record of 5-6-8 overall and 2-4-6 in the Big West.
The Gauchos (12-3-4, 9-1-2
Big West) got on the board first on a Nick Perara goal just
past the 29th minute. Perara took a pass from Jon Curry and
fired a shot from just outside the box to beat Highlander
senior keeper Charles Alamo for the 1-0 UCSB lead. Santa Barbara
took a 9-2 shot advantage and a 1-0 lead into the half.
The Highlanders came out
in the second half playing some of their best soccer of the
season, firing five shots in the period but none bigger than
Kaufman’s that found the back of net to tie the game
at 1-1.
Both teams continued to
play a tough physical game as 41 fouls were called on the
night including two yellow cards given out to both squads.
The two teams played every ball hard and faced up to every
ball handler as neither team was able to get a goal across,
leading to the addition of two overtime sessions.
Only one shot was made
in the additional 20 minutes played and Alamo made the save
for UCR who finishes the season with a school-record eight
ties. Alamo made two saves on the night to polish off one
of the greatest keeper careers in Big West Conference history.
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