First-Half Whitworth Goals Cost UC Santa Cruz

Sunday, September 13

Spokane, WA

11:00 AM

UC Santa Cruz Athletics

1-2-2, 0-0-0

Whitworth University

2-2-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UC Santa Cruz	0	1	1
Whitworth	2	0	2

9/13/2026 1:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

SPOKANE, Wash – The UC Santa Cruz men's soccer team fell to Whitworth University 2-1 to finish their weekend of contests in Washington. The Banana Slugs gave up both goals in the first half of play and were outshot 4-3 in the opening 45 minutes. With a sense of urgency in the second half, UCSC outshot the Pirates 6-2, including a goal from Kotetsu Horike in the final minutes of the game. Up next, UC Santa Cruz men's soccer will be back at home to face Jessup University on Saturday, Sept. 19th at 12:00 PM.

How It Happened

UCSC and Whitworth both came out slow to open the matchup with no shots taken by either team until the Pirates missed right in the 16th minute. Whitworth continued the offensive pressure, and when the Banana Slugs struggled to clear the ball, the Pirates took advantage of the opportunity and scored the first goal of the match in the 17th minute. Giovanny Hernandez Lopez kicked the first shot of the match for the Banana Slugs less than three minutes later, nearly missing and forcing a save from Whitworth. UCSC stayed persistent to tie things up as Erik Moreno Herrera and Michael Braun took shots only 17 seconds apart from each other in the 23rd minute. The game lingered in the midfield for roughly 15 minutes as both teams traded possessions up until the 38th minute when Whitworth found the net after putting themselves in scoring position from a free kick. The Banana Slugs remained in possession in the final minutes of the half but could not piece together a score, and ended the half facing a two-goal deficit.

UC Santa Cruz opened the second half with more assertiveness on offense as Braun led with the first shot on goal of the half for the Banana Slugs. After UC Santa Cruz did not convert the offensive opportunities, Whitworth regained possession for several minutes to put the Pirates in position for multiple free kicks and shots against the Slugs. Tobias Jacobson-Bell assisted the defense in keeping Whitworth's second half attacks under control, earning a save in the 67th minute of play. Jared Balagot took his first shot of the day 72 minutes in as the Banana Slugs started to feel the pressure of the game clock winding down. With less than two minutes of play remaining, Jake Kluka pressured the Pirates leading to a Horike goal for UCSC to cut the lead down to one for Whitworth. The Banana Slugs ran out of time to convert the tying goal, and did not get another shot off before the clock expired.