SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Senior Isaac Flores scored his fourth goal of the season but UC Santa Barbara junior Nick DePuy scored twice, his NCAA-leading 14th and 15th goals of the season, and No. 17 UC Santa Barbara earned a 2-1 win over the Hornets on Wednesday night.

Despite the loss, Sacramento State (6-9-2, 3-5-1 Big West) is still alive for a berth in the Big West Tournament. No. 16 Cal Poly and UC Davis played to a 0-0 draw on Wednesday, leaving the Hornets two points behind UC Davis for the last qualifying spot. Sacramento State will need a win against Cal Poly and a UC Davis loss or tie vs. UC Santa Barbara when the regular season concludes on Saturday.

No. 17 UC Santa Barbara (11-5-2, 6-2-1 Big West) clinched a Big West Tournament berth and has a three-point lead atop the North division standings. The Gauchos earned some retribution against the Hornets after Sacramento State scored a 5-2 win over UCSB in Sacramento two weeks ago.

UCSB waited little time scoring its first goal on Wednesday as it came less than two minutes into the contest. Geoffrey Acheampong sent a free kick through the box to Duncan Backus, who headed a ball off the right post to DePuy for an open header finish.

Sacramento State did not have a shot on goal until the 37th minute and was outshot 5-2 overall in the first half but permitted just two UCSB shots on goal in the opening period. The Gauchos scored early in the second half as well in the 53rd minute when Acheampong found DePuy on a cross to the far post and a header to the opposite side.

On the ensuing kickoff the Hornets caught the Gauchos napping and got the goal back just 17 seconds later. Junior Ivan Ramirez held possession to the left of the 18-yard box and dribbled to the middle before feeding a ball to Flores, who charged toward the goal and buried a shot into the right side. See video of the goal below.

The Hornets totaled five shots in the second half but did not place another shot on goal. Off a flip throw from freshman Christian Guzman Hornet junior John Quintanilla had a header try sail just over the bar in the 83rd minute as the Gauchos held on.

The assist from Ramirez was his sixth of the year, tied for the fifth most assists in a season in program history. Flores and Quintanilla each had two shots for the Hornets and sophomore goalkeeper James Del Curto made four saves.

UC Santa Barbara had a 10-7 edge in shots for the game and was 6-2 in shots on goal. The home team also had five corner kicks while allowing just one.

When the Hornets host No. 16 Cal Poly at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hornet Field the Mustangs will also have something to play for as the team could win the regular season Big West title with a win and a UCSB loss. Cal Poly clinched a berth in the tournament Wednesday night.

Saturday will also be senior day for the Hornets as Flores, Cesar Mendoza, and Brad Kellogg will be honored prior to their last home match.