Box Score
FOREST GROVE – After 75 minutes of evenly played soccer, UC Santa Cruz finally wore down Pacific in a 1-0 victory Monday at Lincoln Park Stadium.
Brock Kobayashi made a run up the right size of the goal box and sent a shot just in front of the goal line where Daniel Seltzer punched in a sliding deflection, his foot meeting the ball just ahead of Boxers' goalkeeper
Chris Reimer for the game-winner.
With the win, UCSB is a perfect 3-0 against Northwest Conference competition to start the season, while Pacific drops to 0-2 with its second consecutive home loss.
The Banana Slugs began their final offensive surge with a near miss in the 76th minute when sophomore forward Peter Shelling couldn't finish a play to the far post by Zach Hummel. Four minutes later Hummel received a long cross ball from Selter but his shot sailed over the crossbar.
An evenly played first half saw UCSB substituting liberally, while Pacific, with three starters out injured, including 2nd-team All-NWC midfielder
Patrick Murray (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.), went the entire first 45 minutes with starting its starting 11.
While shots were even at 6-6, Pacific put five of its shots on frame and forced a couple of tough saves from UCSB goalkeeper Nate Levinson.
In the 31st minute, Nick Rubella put a strong header on a corner kick sending Levinson leaping to tip the shot over the crossbar. Freshman forward
Garrick Knowles (Roseburg, Ore.), making his first start for the Boxers, handled all six Pacific corner kicks.
Six-foot-seven inch forward
Devin Shull (So., Seattle, Wash.) was a physical factor in the midfield and a popular target for Reimer, making his second consecutive start. Reimer sent a long goal kick into Slugs territory to the head of Shull in the 40th minute. Shull flicked the ball ahead for Rubella, who drilled a 30-yard shot on a quick turn forcing Levinson to make a leaping save.
In the second half,
Adler Pottebaum (Fr., Portland, Ore.) sent a header off the football crossbar shortly after entering the game in the 62nd minute. That would be the last serious threat to UC Santa Cruz, which opened the season with back-to-back victories over Puget Sound (1-0) and Linfield (3-0) before making Pacific its third straight NWC victim.
The Boxers return to action Friday with the third game of their season-opening six-game homestand, taking on Claremont Mudd Scripps at 7:30 p.m. at Lincoln Park Stadium.
