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UCSB Hosts Pepperdine, Travels to UCI for First Big West Road Match
Oct. 9, 2007
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The Schedule
Thursday, October 11, 2007 at 7:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara vs. Pepperdine
at UCSB's Harder Stadium
Sunday, October 14, 2007 at 5:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine
at UCI's Anteater Stadium
The Week Ahead
UC Santa Barbara hosts Pepperdine in a non-conference match on Thursday,
Oct. 11 at 7:00 p.m. After a slow start that saw them go scoreless and
0-4-1 out of the blocks, the Waves have heated up and have gone unbeaten in
their last six. Overall, Pepperdine is now 2-4-5 and has scored 11 goals in
the last six matches. On Sunday, the Gauchos resume Big West play when they
travel to UC Irvine for their first conference road match of the year. The
Anteaters are the most improved team in the league and have an overall
record of 6-4-1. They have yet to open Big West play.
Kugler Honored By Big West, Soccer Buzz Magazine
Freshman forward Kailyn Kugler was named Big West Player of the Week and to
the National Team of the Week by Soccer Buzz Magazine after scoring three
goals in UCSB's Big West wins over Cal State Fullerton and UC Riverside over
the weekend. In Friday night's 2-0 win over the two-time defending league
tournament champion Titans, the San Clemente, Calif., native scored a goal
in the first half and finished with a season-high six shots. On Sunday, as
the Gauchos trounced UC Riverside 4-0, she scored a pair of goals, both
during a 13 minute span in the second half that put the game out of reach.
Kugler leads UCSB with five goals and 11 points through 12 contests.
The Gauchos Hit 25
The 2007 season is the the 25th intercollegiate campaign for the UC Santa
Barbara women's soccer program. The Gauchos first laced up their shoes as
an intercollegiate program in 1983. Prior to 1983, UCSB had been a club
program.
On The Record
UCSB's sweep of its weekend matches against Cal State Fullerton and UC
Riverside improved its overall record to 5-5-2 and its Big West mark to 2-0.
Since opening the season with a 1-3 record, the Gauchos have gone 4-2-2.
Their 2-0 record in league ties them with Long Beach State for first place.
On The Stumpf
Paul Stumpf is in his ninth season as the head coach at UC Santa Barbara. He
enters this week's action with a record of 86-64-19. His total of 86 wins
ranks second on UCSB's all-time list. Last season, he guided the Gauchos to
a 7-7-6 overall record, including a 5-1-1 record in the Big West, good
enough to tie for the regular season championship. Stumpf has led the
program to records of .500 or better in six of the last seven seasons,
including four straight seasons of 10 or more victories, the first time the
program accomplished that feat since 1988-91. In 1999, Stumpf's first
season as the head coach at UCSB, he took a team that was selected to finish
last in the conference, but instead posted an 8-9-1 overall record and a 5-4
mark in the Big West. Following the season, he was chosen as the Big West's
Coach of the Year. He has, in fact, guided the Gauchos to a top-three
league finish in six of the last seven seasons. Before arriving in Santa
Barbara as an assistant coach in 1998, Stumpf spent two seasons as an
assistant at Humboldt State. In addition, the San Diego native spent several
years coaching club teams in the Santa Rosa area.
Turnaround Weekend
What a difference a week makes. On the final weekend of September, UCSB
dropped a pair of road matches in the Pacific Northwest, losing at
Washington State (3-0) and Gonzaga (1-0). The team could muster just 16
total shots in the two matches. On the first weekend of October, the
Gauchos turned the tables on their opponents. On Friday night, Santa
Barbara beat Cal State Fullerton 2-0, scoring one goal in each half. UCSB
also outshot the Titans 21-8. On Sunday the Gauchos defeated UC Riverside
4-0 and they outshot the Highlanders 20-5. The four goals were the most
scored by UCSB this season and it equaled the high of last season. In all,
after being outscored 4-0 and outshot 28-16 the previous week, the Gauchos
outscored Fullerton and Riverside by a 6-0 count and they outshot them
41-13.
Best League Start Since...
At 2-0, the Gauchos are off to their best start in Big West play in a few
years. In 2004, UCSB opened the league campaign with a 4-0 record en route
to a 7-1-1 mark by the end of the season. Last year, Santa Barbara lost its
Big West opening match to Long Beach State.
Streaking Through The Big West
With its 2-0 start to the Big West schedule, UCSB has extended a streak that
has stretched more than a year. Dating back to the 2006 season, the Gauchos
have gone unbeaten in their last eight Big West Conference matches,
recording a 7-0-1 record over that span. Last year, Santa Barbara lost its
league opener, 1-0 to Long Beach State, on Oct. 6, 2006. Following the loss
to the 49ers, the Gauchos went 5-0-1 to finish the year at 5-1-1 in league.
Home, Sweet Home
UCSB has been a pretty tough customer at home in 2007. The Gauchos are
4-1-2 at Harder Stadium this season, having gone unbeaten in their last
five, 3-0-2. Defensively, UCSB has been fairly stingy all season, but it
has been particularly miserly at home. Santa Barbara has allowed 12 goals
in 12 matches this season, but at home it has given up just four goals in
seven matches this season. The team's goals against average in home games
is a paltry 0.52 and it has registered four shutouts.
Kugler Gets Offensive
Freshman Kailyn Kugler is listed in the UCSB media guide as a
midfielder/forward/defender. Regardless of position, she was not expected to
play a major role in her first season for the Gauchos. Time and injuries,
however, changed the landscape. Kugler has emerged as a top offensive
threat for UCSB. She scored three goals in the team's two wins last weekend
and she now has five in 12 matches this year. In addition, Kugler, a
product of San Clemente High School, has one assist for a team-leading 11
points. If she can maintain the lead, she would become the third freshman
to lead the Gauchos in scoring during Paul Stumpf's tenure as head coach,
joining Jen Borcich and Genelle Ives.
Russell Hits Her Stride
Junior forward Michelle Russell is starting to hit her stride for the
Gauchos. Russell is tied for second on the team with three goals and she is
second in total points with eight. She scored a goal in each of UCSB's wins
last weekend, one more than she scored in all of 2006. The San Diego native
entered the 2007 season having scored three goals and one assist in 25
games. As a freshman in 2005, Russell was combining with Genelle Ives to
give the Gauchos a potent one-two freshman punch, but an ankle injury in the
seventh game of the year caused her to miss the remainder of the season.
Last year, Russell returned and played in 18 matches scoring one goal. This
year, she is one of a number of players who has been forced into a feature
role, and she has responded.
Wright Now
Senior defender Katrina Wright is a key ingredient in UCSB's stellar
defense, but she is also leading the team in a key offensive category.
Wright assisted on goals in both of the Gauchos' wins last weekend and she
now has four assists on the year, tops on the squad.
Young Guns
Kailyn Kugler is the team-leader in goals, but she is not the only freshman
scoring for the Gauchos. Jacqui Simon has tallied a pair of goals and
Brooke Salyer has scored once. In all, freshmen have scored eight of UCSB's
15 goals in 2007.
On The Horizon
Following this weekend's games, the Gauchos will travel north for another
non-conference game. On Wednesday, Oct. 17, UCSB will play at Santa Clara,
which is currently ranked fifth in the nation. On Saturday, Oct. 20, the
Gauchos host Big West rival Cal Poly.
--UCSBgauchos.com--
