By Oscar Fries Rivera (@oscar_frias408) – Spear Reporter
San Jose State women’s soccer (0-3-1,0-0 MW) tied 2-2 to UC Santa Barbara (0-4-1, 0-0 BW) on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Santa Barbara.
The Spartans entered this game looking for their first win of the season after losing the first three games. In the first half, Santa Barbara got ahead early as sophomore forward Meg Burling scored the first goal in the 15th minute. Both teams combined for seven corners in the first half, SJSU could not capitalize to get on the board.
With The Spartans down one already, it wasn’t looking to good for them after the second half started. The Gauchos managed to hold the ball possession more once it was the second half and took advantage when they got a corner kick at the 62nd minute and scored with a header from sophomore defender Alyssa O’Brien. To make matters worse, SJSU freshmen midfielder Tatiana Cunningham managed to get the first and only yellow card in the game after the goal for unsporting.
Luckily that wasn’t the end for The Spartans as they pushed hard right after the goal. Just four minutes after the goal, SJSU had the opportunity to score a goal from a corner kick as well. Junior midfielder Cynthia Flores scored the goal with a header as well to now make the score 2-1 with about 20 more minutes of play time left. Though time was crucial for the Spartans, they knew what needed to be done in order to try to tie this game and that was play heavy on offense. Unfortunately for the Gauchos, they kept fouling and gave the Spartans possession with opportunities to score. With that, SJSU scored off a free kick in the 76th minute from sophomore forward Bella Flocchini to tie the game.
The Spartans look to get their first win of the season back at home against Denver on Thursday, Sept. 8 at 4:30 p.m. at the Spartan Soccer Complex.