SAN ANTONIO — Junior Kaja Skare's sixth goal of the season gave UTSA an early 1-0 lead, but UC Santa Barbara scored three goals in the final eight minutes of the first half en route to a 4-1 victory on Friday morning at Park West Athletics Complex.
Skare's header in the box extended her team-leading goal total and gave the Roadrunners (4-4) a 1-0 advantage in the eighth minute. The strike was set up by a perfect cross from freshman Sarah Bayhi to the back post and the Oslo, Norway, native found the back of the net for the quick cushion.
The score remained 1-0 until late in the first half, when the Gauchos (8-0) rallied with a hat trick from Shaelan Murison take control and remain unbeaten.
Murison struck first in the 38th minute to tie the score before strikes in the 40th and 44th minutes to extend the lead to 3-1 at halftime.
UTSA controlled the ball for much of the second half, but found few scoring chances against the UC Santa Barbara defense.
Jessica Parque put the match away in the 80th minute with a long goal from about 30 yards out that provided the final 4-1 margin.
UTSA will close non-conference play with a 7 p.m. matchup at Houston (3-0-1) on Sunday.
