By James Kim (@Jdkim38):
Nationally ranked San Jose State defeated the No. 8 University of California, Santa Barbara 7-6 on Friday night.
“We caught them a little bit shorthanded,” said head coach Bruce Watson, “We had a good game for them; executed it fairly well. We got a good lead and were able to hold on.”
Just as the game started (with a turnover), the Spartans committed several errors giving the Gauchos an early 2-0 advantage. SJSU would then tie it up and take the lead into halftime with goals by sophomore utility Giacomo Lovatelli, freshman 2M Luka Cupic and freshman Jacob Mercep.
Mercep tallied his second goal early in the third frame to put the Spartans up 4-2.
After a goal from UCSB’s Shane Hauschild, his brother, SJSU’s Ben, scored two goals to end the period. At this point the score was 6-3
Sophomore 2M Finn Pardon scored one more and what would end up being the game-winning goal, as the Gauchos scored three late in the game.
“Such a defensive performance from [TJ Palmer] helped us out a lot,” Hauschild said. “He came through today.”
The sophomore goalkeeper Palmer blocked seven shots on goal.
With the big win and current four-game winning streak, the Spartans will undoubtedly climb the rankings next time it is released.
The next game will be at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 15 at UC Berkeley.