With just three minutes left to go in double overtime, UCSB’s Noah Billingsley fired from seven yards away against CSUN’s defense. The shot found its way past the diving keeper Henrik Regitnig and for the game winner and 1-0 Big West victory.
The Matadors (5-6-1, 0-2-1) defense kept the streaking Gauchos at bay throughout most of the game but it still wasn’t enough despite Regitnig’s three saves. It was UCSB’s sixth win in a row and remain unbeaten in conference play.
CSUN is going in the opposite direction having lost four of its last five and struggled to find rhythm offensively. Freshman Danny Trejo had a good look in the final seconds of the second half but his shot missed the outside post.
“We have just been getting unlucky,” coach Terry Davila said. “We just need to find a way to get the ball to go through someway somehow. The only way we get better is just continuing to work in practice and getting better.”
Regitnig added a safe in the 48th minute and then stopped an onslaught of shots in the 60th minute to keep the Matadors in the match. CSUN has been shutout three times during its recent slump.
The Matadors will try to find its rhythm Saturday night at home against Cal Poly Saturday at 7 p.m.