SANTA CRUZ, Ca. – The UC Santa Cruz men's soccer team improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 1-0 victory over the Pacific University Boxers. After hosting two Northwest Conference opponents, the Banana Slugs will travel to the Pacific Northwest for their next two contests as they take on University of Puget Sound on Sept. 5 and Pacific Lutheran University on Sept. 7.

How It Happened
The Banana Slugs controlled much of the first half, testing the Boxers' defense with early chances from Oliver Gill and Torin Volkamer. Gill's shot in the eighth minute forced a team save, while Volkamer fired two efforts just minutes later, including a strike that was turned aside by Pacific goalkeeper Mikkel Jensen. The breakthrough came in the 42nd minute when Drew Krawiec pounced on a chance in the box, finishing the job after fighting past two defenders before slotting it past the keeper to give UCSC a 1-0 edge heading into halftime.

In the second half, the Slugs continued to press for insurance with Volkamer and Gill threatening Pacific's goal. Pacific looked to respond with a few dangerous chances, forcing Tobias Jacobson-Bell to make some key saves down the stretch. The Banana Slugs were able to keep the Boxers off the board with Jacobsen-Bell making a save in the 89th minute as UC Santa Cruz earned the hard fought 1-0 victory on Monday afternoon.