BAKERSFIELD, Calif.-- In front of a record-setting crowd, the CSU Bakersfield women's soccer team fell to UC Santa Barbara by a score of 3-0. 1,143 fans came out to cheer on the 'Runners at the Main Soccer Field, an attendance total that smashed the all-time, regular-season record of 607 (9/10/12 vs. UCSB).

“[Drawing large crowds] was actually one of our goals,” said Gary Curneen, Head Coach of the 'Runners, after the match. “I would have liked to have done it with a win. We want to show this team to the city of Bakersfield and to show them a good brand of soccer. I felt we tried that tonight and we played some decent stuff. Thanks to everyone for coming!”

While Curneen's 'Runners did not get a result on Wednesday night, Bakersfield's head coach was optimistic about the overall performance: “I thought we played really well in the first half. In the second half, a team like that, you have got to try to prevent them from getting momentum. Once they got that momentum, they were hard to stop. That's a great Santa Barbara side and this was a good test coming into conference play.”

The first half was a defensive war as the back lines for both teams shut down the opposition. CSU Bakersfield passed the ball well and controlled much of the possession, but was unable to create many quality chances. The second half proved to be a different story as the Gauchos controlled possession and put away three of the chances they created.

At the 51:08 mark, UCSB's leading scorer Mallory Hromatko converted her fourth goal of the season to give the Gauchos a 1-0 lead. The freshman forward dribbled toward the 18-yard box and drove the ball into the back of the net to put her team ahead.

In the next ten minutes, UCSB capitalized on a pair of corner kicks. In the 60th minute, the ball pinballed around in the 'Runner box until Jessica Clegg found it. The freshman midfielder put it away to give the Gauchos a two-goal advantage. Two minutes later, the 'Runner keeper punched the cross away but the ball fell to Sara Feder's feet at the top of the box. The junior from Denver fired a hard shot which beat all CSUB defenders for a 3-0 lead.

After the trio of goals from UCSB, the 'Runner defense settled in and started to take back possession. CSUB created a couple of good opportunities late in the match, but was unable to capitalize. The Gauchos (6-3-1) held on for the 3-0 victory on Wednesday night.

The 'Runner women (2-6-1) have one more home match this week; in fact, they have a pivotal match Saturday, Sept. 26, against Grand Canyon. This weekend marks the Western Athletic Conference opener and will be CSUB's first chance to get ahead in the WAC standings.

The match starts at 7 p.m. here at the Main Soccer Field on Saturday night while the first 50 kids will get a free hot dog. Tickets can be purchased ahead of time at Vallitix.com or at the gate.

~GoRunners.com~