SANTA CRUZ (9-4) – The Banana Slugs played their first match of the UCSC Tournament as they took on Whitman College at Lower East Remote Field. The Blues rode two first half goals on their way to a 3-2 victory over the Banana Slugs
 
In the first half, the Blues Oscar Harding would score on a penalty kick with 17:08 left in the half to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. With 13:33 left until halftime, Oliver Dickson would score on a putback after a clearance from 25 yards out to extend the Blues' lead to 2-0. One minute of clock time later, the Banana Slugs would score on a top shelf header by Will Barba after a corner by Itay Rabinovich. The last chance for the Banana Slugs to score came with 1:28 left in the half but Liam Laird's shot just missed the net high. Whitman lead 2-1 at halftime.
 
In the second half, the Blues would score on a shot by Noa Taylor with 21:34 left after a pass from sub Zachary Stonier to extend the Blues' lead to 3-1. With 8:57 left in the match, UC Santa Cruz pulled one back after Liam Linas tapped in a shot to the near post after a Rabinovich free kick to trim the Blues' lead to 3-2. The final shot of the match for the Banana Slugs came off the foot of Coles Simes with 4:41 left but his shot was just wide.
 
Rabinovich and Simes both had a match-high three shots for the Banana Slugs. The physical match had 38 fouls comitted, 22 by Whitman.
 
The Banana Slugs will finish up the UCSC Tournament tomorrow as they take on George Fox University at Lower East Remote Field. Kickoff is set for 2 pm.