WHITTIER-- UC Santa Cruz got an early lead on the road, but had to hold off a furious comeback to earn a 3-2 win at Whittier.
In the regular season finale, UC Santa Cruz went to 10-5-3 with their third win in a row. It's the most wins for men's soccer since 2014.

The Banana Slugs almost ran away with the contest early by putting three goals past the Poets in the first 19 minutes. Tyler Allred opened scoring in the 7th minute. Four minutes later, Max Beldner doubled the advantage after finishing a pass from Allred. Adrian Jacobs made it 3-0 eight minutes later with his tenth goal of the season. The Banana Slugs finished the half up 3-0, just missing a fourth with ten seconds left when Luca Bravo's shot went over the bar.

The second half saw the hosts mount a comeback however. They pulled one back less than seven minutes after the restart, and then made it 3-2 in the 67th minute after a corner kick. Whittier kept pressing and almost got the equalizer with under three to play, but goalkeeper Kian Van der Meer saved the shot to keep UC Santa Cruz's lead. The Poets' final chance came on a corner with under 30 seconds left, but the Banana Slugs scrambled the ball away to see out the hard-earned win.
Whittier outshot UC Santa Cruz 5-4 in the second half after the Banana Slugs had a 9-0 advantage in the first 45 minutes.

UC Santa Cruz finds out on Monday who they play at the C2C Conference Tournament when final seedings are decided.