BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After battling through 96 scoreless minutes, Cal State Bakersfield (1-0-
0) scored a golden goal in overtime to defeat visiting UC Santa Barbara (0-1-0) in both
team’s 2010 season opener on Wednesday at the Roadrunners’ Main Soccer Field.

In the 97th minute, Alberto Navarro took a free kick from midfield for Bakersfield. Gyasi
Zardes deflected the ball to himself and kicked the winning shot into the lower right corner
of the Gaucho goal to capture the victory.

UCSB controlled the tempo in the first half, out-shooting the Roadrunners 10-2 during the
period with five shots coming on goal.

In the 26th minute, junior midfielder Luis Silva sent a ball in that was headed by junior
defender Evan McNeil. Sophomore Michael Nonni collected the rebound, but Bakersfield
goalkeeper Eric Shannon blocked the shot from point-blank range.

Just a few minutes later, freshman David Opoku fed the ball to junior Michael Tetteh whose
shot from inside the area was blocked by Shannon. In the ensuing minutes, junior Chris
Hunter and sophomore Sam Garza each fired shots on Shannon, but neither was converted,
as the game remained scoreless.

The Gauchos got another opportunity in the final 10 seconds of the half when sophomore
Machael David shot the ball to his opposite side, but Shannon made the diving save to keep
UCSB off the scoreboard.

UCSB kept its momentum going in the second half and in the 54th minute, Garza gained
possession of the ball and went streaking down the right side. He beat his defender and cut
towards the middle of the field where he crossed the ball between two defenders to a waiting
Nonni. The forward took another shot from point-blank range, but Shannon came up with
the save.

Less than five minutes later, Bakersfield had a great opportunity to get on the board when
Peter Carlson fed the ball to Ernesto Hinojosa who shot to the inside near post. Senior
goalkeeper Sam Hayden dove for the ball and was able to deflect it out of bounds.

From that point, the match become somewhat disjointed as neither team was able to control
possession for long. Bakersfield was able to out-shoot the Gauchos 7-5 in the second half
with four of its shots coming on goal.

The Gauchos did, however, have two great opportunities late in the half. In the 81st minute,
David fed the ball to junior Danny Barrera in the area, but his shot to the low right hand side
of the goal hit the post. A couple minutes later, Luis Silva flicked the ball to Garza, who then
sent it to Christian Ramirez but Shannon once again came up big, making a diving save.

Shannon was impressive in the goal for the Roadrunners, making eight saves in the win.
Hayden tallied five saves in the loss, one shy of his career-high.

The Gauchos will be in action again on Saturday when they play at New Mexico. UCSB will
return to Meredith Field at Harder Stadium for its 2010 home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 7
when the Gauchos host Creighton in a 7 p.m. match.