Payton Cichowski continued her scoring run with a late winner Saturday in the 1-0 win over Occidental.
UC Santa Cruz ran their unbeaten streak to five games and are 5-7-2 on the season.
Occidental (6-3-4) had two shots in the game's first 17 minutes, but senior goalkeeper Samantha Coelho handled both. The Banana Slugs then settled and controlled possession the rest of the half. Their best chance came in the 21st minute when Karina Bulli got free on a nice turn, but her shot went wide left.
After a 0-0 first half, both teams went back and forth looking for the breakthrough goal to no avail.
The game was looking like it was headed for overtime, but with 90 seconds left, Amanda Scott cut through the midfield and laid a pass that left Cichowski one-on-one with the Tiger goalkeeper. Cichowski got a quick foot on the ball that went under the goalie and rolled the last fifteen yards into an empty net. It was Cichowski's team-high seventh goal of the year and fifth in the last three matches.
Occidental had one more chance on a free kick with 33 seconds left, but the Banana Slug defense held firm to earn the team's third straight win.
Coelho had five saves for her third consecutive victory. Overall, the Banana Slugs had an 11-7 shot advantage, including 8-2 in the second half.
UC Santa Cruz next plays on Tuesday October 19th when they host Division II Academy of Art at 4:00pm.