SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - For the second time this season, California men's soccer battled No. 22 UC Santa Barbara at Harder Stadium. But, unlike in the 3-0 victory Cal earned in September, the Golden Bears fell to the Gauchos, 3-1, on a chilly Thursday night in the first round of the NCAA Championship.

Cal ended the season with an 8-7-3 record, while UCSB improved to 13-4-4 and earned a second-round date at Saint Mary's.

Christian Gomez scored Cal's goal in the 39th minute to tie the match at 1-1. Down 1-0 after Rodney Michael scored for UCSB in the 18th minute, Cal earned a corner kick at 38:07. Taylor Davila's corner found Simon Lekressner, who redirected the ball towards goal. After a couple of Gauchos deflected the ball, Gomez pounced and fired past goalkeeper Ben Roach to score his first goal of the season.
 
"It fell fortunately for us, and Christian was able to put it in," Lekressner said.
 
The game was still knotted at 1-1 at halftime.
 
In the 65th minute, UCSB was awarded a penalty kick, and Thibault Candia – who assisted on the Gauchos' first goal – converted the PK to give his team a 2-1 lead.
 
Cal soon had a great chance to tie the game again, but Roach saved Jonathan Estrada's point-blank shot in the 68th minute.
 
With Cal pushing players forward in search of the equalizer, Will Baynham scored in the 73rd minute to hand UCSB its 3-1 lead.
 
In the 86th minute, Cal forward Tommy Williamson missed just high on a shot from in close, and at 89:08, Davila had another close-range shot stymied by Roach.
 
In Cal's September win at UCSB, the Gauchos were missing some players on their backline due to injury. In Thursday's game, Cal lost Francisco Gomez to an early injury, and the midfielder didn't return after playing just 17 minutes. Injuries to other starters further hampered the Bears, particularly in the second half.
 
"It was certainly a hard-fought game by both teams," Cal head coach Kevin Grimes said. "We had a really good boost from the guys off the bench tonight. They gave us a great shift, and I think they were a big part of us getting the tying goal. We're proud of our effort."
 
Thus ended the Cal careers of senior starters Callender, an All-Pac-12 second-team selection, and Lekressner, the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a member of the All-Pac-12 first team.
 
"I'm so thankful to finish with these guys," Lekressner said. "It's been unreal. It's been fantastic to work with them."