SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Facing a UC Santa Barbara team that was ranked No. 13 in the nation and had not allowed more than two goals in any game this season, Sacramento State built a 2-0 lead at halftime and scored three more times in the second half in a 5-2 shocker over the Gauchos on Wednesday at Hornet Field.

"It was a fantastic win," Sacramento State head coach Michael Linenberger said. "Obviously I'm proud of my team for the performance. Santa Barbara is a fantastic team; I think they're deserving of their ranking.

"The last couple days trying to prepare for them we worked on staying compact defensively and making sure spaces were small. We knew they would have a lot of the ball and our plan was to stay compact and limit the space behind us and through us. We thought we could catch them in transition or on the counter and fortunately for us we were successful with that."

The Gauchos, ranked No. 13 in the nation by Soccer America, had allowed just three total goals through their first four Big West games. The win was their first for Sacramento State (5-7-1, 2-4-0 Big West) over UC Santa Barbara (9-4-1, 4-1-0 Big West) since 1997.

"I think the first time we connected we scored on the counter and that started to make us believe a little bit," said Linenberger. "And then we scored the second one and more confidence came into the team. I thought from there on out we played much better."

The win was the first for the Hornets over a ranked team since 2011 and was the highest ranked opponent defeated by the team since a 2-0 win over No. 10 UC Irvine in 2010. The five goals were also the most the team has scored against a Div. I opponent since 2010.

The Gauchos had the run of things through the first 20 minutes of the contest, but in the 24th minute the Hornets found the first offensive chance and capitalized. Goalkeeper James Del Curto played a long ball into the UCSB end and redshirt freshman Brad Bumgarner led senior Isaac Flores on a clear break on goal with a low finish.

Sacramento State's next shot also found the back of the net when sophomore Trevor Jackson sent a perfect lob to the top of the box and found Bumgarner in the 34th minute. The Gaucho player marking Bumgarner slipped and fell to the ground, and the Hornet forward blasted a shot off goalkeeper Justin Vom Steeg and in.

The Gauchos had a 9-3 edge in shots in the first half but Del Curto made three saves on their only shots on goal. Less than two minutes into the second half UCSB made it a one-goal game when Del Curto stopped an initial shot but Kevin Feucht was in position for an open finish off the rebound.

Down just one goal, UCSB's comeback attempt took a serious hit when Sam Strong was sent off with a red card in the 61st minute, dropping the Gauchos to just 10 men on the field for the remainder of the game.

The next goal was critical, and it went the Hornets way when junior Ivan Ramirez had a breakaway off a UCSB turnover and dribbled around the keeper and finished into the open net in the 64th minute.

With UC Santa Barbara pushing forward the Hornets were able to strike for two more goals on the counter, the first when junior Preston Davis scored off a chip pass from sophomore Paul Geyer in the 84th minute.

UC Santa Barbara got one goal back on a strike from Ismaila Jome just 30 seconds after the Davis goal, but Hornet junior Argenis Ramos added an insurance tally off an odd-man rush when he put home the rebound off a shot from freshman Jessie Gonzalez in the 88th minute.

"It's a big win," Linenberger said. "Its three points at home and we always talk about needing to get points at home no matter who you are playing."

The goals for Ramirez, Davis, and Ramos were their first career scores. Bumgarner extended his team lead to five goals this season while Flores scored for the third time.

Del Curto made five saves in the win while Vom Steeg finished with two stops. The Hornets outshot the Gauchos 14-10 in the second half while the teams finished even in the game with seven shots on goal apiece.

A total of six yellow cards and the one red card were issued, all in the second half, and the teams combined for 19 total fouls in the contest.

The Hornets look to keep the momentum going facing Causeway rival UC Davis on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Davis.

"We have five games left in the division and they're all very difficult," added Linenberger. "We have to continue to take them one game at a time and try to keep racking up some points"