Roos' Comeback Attempt Falls Short at UC Santa Barbara

Saturday, September 16

Santa Barbara, CA

9:00 PM

Kansas City

2-3-2, 0-0-0

Santa Barbara

4-3-0, 0-0-0

Kansas City

UC Santa Barbara

Photo by: Ryan Weaver Photography

Roos' Comeback Attempt Falls Short at UC Santa Barbara

9/16/2023 11:24:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score Highlights

Kansas City fell behind by three goals and tried to mount a late comeback, but fell short, 3-2

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Late goals gave Kansas City Men's Soccer life against UC Santa Barbara on Saturday evening, but the Roos' comeback efforts fell short, 3-2. It seemed as if the Gauchos might run away with the game after taking a 3-0 lead in the 54th minute, but Kansas City continued to fight, earning goals from Samuel Nagy and Brice Middleton. The Roos were able attempt three shots in the game's final 10 minutes, but the equalizing goal was not meant to be.

KEY MOMENTS

6' / 0-0 | A set piece gave the Gauchos the first real opportunity of the night, but a header was calmly collected by Stefano Camerlengo for a save.
26' / 0-0 | It seemed as if the Roos were destined to take lead midway through the half, as Julien Le Bourdoulous found Luke Hoelting running towards the goal. Hoelting sent a shot past the UCSB keeper, but a defender came in at the last moment to keep the ball from finding the net.
33' / 0-1 | Just moments after Santa Barbara put a shot into the goal and claimed a lead, Le Bourdoulous looked for a quick equalizer. He brought the ball down on the right side of the box, shook a defender off, and fired a shot that was blocked away by the keeper.
54' / 0-3 | Kansas City entered the half down a goal, but the Gauchos quickly added two more goals early in the second.
61' / 1-3 | Nagy and Christian Koffi made substitutions shortly after the Gauchos' third goal and quickly made an impact. Nagy sent a pass to Koffi at the top of the 18-yard box, who laid the ball back off for Nagy, splitting the defenders and slotting the ball neatly into net.

Samuel will win that battle 10 times out of 10 ?? https://t.co/F03YKjq0FP pic.twitter.com/dR5EYcUpqN
— Kansas City Soccer (@KCRoosMSoccer) September 17, 2023

78' / 1-3 | UCSB looked to add onto its lead even more with a shot toward the top of the net, but Camerlengo had none of it, securing the ball for a save.
80' / 2-3 | The Roos made things interesting as Nagy forced a Gaucho turnover at the edge of the attacking third. The ball was quickly played back to Jack Dean, who found Hector Taboada with space moving forward. Taboada turned and found Middleton, who had snuck behind a pair of UCSB defenders. The shot from Middleton snuck right past the Gauchos' keeper and brought the Roos back within a goal.

Made that one look easy ??@Taboadiinha ?? @b_jmiddleton https://t.co/TaFGiTqHW9 pic.twitter.com/kvV0aARR8o
— Kansas City Soccer (@KCRoosMSoccer) September 17, 2023

88' / 2-3 | Kansas City's final opportunities of the night came from Koffi at the top of the box, unleashing a pair of shots, both of which were blocked.

STATS TO NOTE

On the game, Kansas City out-shot UCSB on a 16-12 clip, including a 12-7 advantage in the second half.
Nagy's goal was his first of the year, becoming the first player to score this season after entering the year with a goal previously scored as a Roo. His first-career goal came last year at Oral Roberts on Oct. 8.
This was the first time this season that the Roos had lost despite scoring a goal. Entering tonight, KC was 2-0-1 on the year when reaching the back of the net.
Carson Lindsey played the game's final 33 minutes, his highest mark on the season. He made the most of his time, attempting a career-high three shots.

UP NEXT
Kansas City returns home to start Summit League play next weekend, hosting Omaha on Saturday at 7 p.m.