Santa Barbara, Calif. - Taking on a former rival out of the Big West, the Tigers' women's soccer team suffered a 1-0 loss at the hands of UC Santa Barbara as a second-half strike downed Pacific on the road on Saturday afternoon. The loss dropped the Tigers to 1-6-1 on the season while the Gauchos improved to 7-3-1.

Locked in a defensive battle throughout the day at Harder Stadium, the Tigers fell victim to a late strike by the Gauchos as UC Santa Barbara broke a scoreless draw in the 65th minute of play with what would be the only goal allowed in the contest by either 'keeper. Making a run through the middle, Mallory Hromatko found the ball at her feet as she found a small crack in what had been a tight Tiger defense all afternoon to set up her scoring effort. Dribbling down the right side of the box, Hromatko was able to slot a shot far post and into the side netting, beating Pacific's Lena Perry for the lone strike of the day. Hromatko's goal was set up by Jessica Parque, who found the goal scorer with a pass as Hromatko crossed over the top of the Tigers' 18 and into the box.

Prior to the goal, the Tigers' defense had held strong thanks to a superb effort out of their redshirt-sophomore in goal. Facing 10 shots on goal throughout the contest, Perry was at her best as she turned away nine attempts by the Gauchos to keep the Tigers within striking distance. The nine saves finished just one short of her career best mark of 10, set two-games prior against UC Davis as she posted a clean-sheet against the Aggies.

"Today was a great prep game for us as we head into WCC play next week," said head coach Keith Coleman. "I am proud of the team's efforts all around in a game that was a slugfest in the middle third. We changed our defensive mindset as we adjusted against a tough scoring team in the Gauchos. The defense took it upon themselves to step their game up and they played great all day long."

The Tigers' best chance of the day came just before halftime when freshman Hannah Stammer sent a shot on frame with :10 seconds remaining, only to be denied by UCSB's Beth Ritter.

Pacific is next in action on Friday, Oct. 2 when the Tigers begin West Coast Conference play on the road in Malibu with a match against the Waves of Pepperdine. The game is scheduled for 3:00 pm at Pepperdine's Tari Frahm Rokus Field.

For the latest on the Pacific Women's Soccer program, be sure to follow @PacificSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.