LOS ANGELES- Adrian Jacobs had a pair of second half penalties as UC Santa Cruz rallied to beat Occidental 2-1. The Banana Slugs improved to 6-5-1 on the season.
 
 "Today was an impressive effort from all of our guys," said head coach Michael Runeare. "Really proud of the way they handled the adversity of the hot weather conditions and a tough opponent."
 
The hosts scored first in the 24^th minute, and held the lead at halftime. "The first half we struggled to maintain possession of the ball and weren't able to tactically impact the game," Runeare explained. "We came out in the second half and made some changes that allowed us to put some pressure in the final third."
 
Jacobs equalized in the 72^nd minute after the Banana Slugs were given a penalty for a handball. Jacobs sent the goalkeeper the wrong way for his fifth goal on the season. Three and a half minutes later. Jacobs was called on again after Caleb Lee was tripped up in the box.
"Caleb set up the second goal with a gritty 1v1 dribble through the top corner of the box and was brought down before he could get a shot off," explained Runeare.
 
From there, the Banana Slugs defense held on for the team's fourth win in a row. "The last 10 minutes we managed to hold off Occidental's offensive push. The guys were organized, limited the opponent's chances on goal, and started to take away Occidental's possession. Led by Max Beldner, defensively we played very well. Individually, Acer Cristea was able to make several attacking runs with the ball into the opponent's final third to help relieve the pressure situation."
 
The Banana Slugs return home for their next home game: a rematch with Lincoln University on Wednesday October 11^th.