The Schedule

Wednesday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m

UC Santa Barbara at Pacific (3-3-1)

All-time record vs. the Tigers (W-L-T): 8-0-0

Last meeting: Sept. 2, 2018: UCSB 1, No. 14 Pacific 0

Video | Audio

 

Sunday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.

UC Santa Barbara vs No. 1 Stanford (6-0-0)

All-time record vs. the Cardinal (W-L-T): 6-14-2

Last meeting: Aug. 28, 2015: No. 17 UCSB 1, No. 8 Stanford 0

Video | Audio

 

The match between the Gauchos and Tigers on Wednesday evening will be available to watch on the WCC Network, produced by Pacific and the West Coast Conference. A link to the broadcast is posted on the men's soccer schedule page.

 

UCSBGauchos.com will offer a live video broadcast of the Stanford game on Saturday through Big West TV. The "Voice of the Gauchos" Gerry Fall will be on play-by-play duties, while current Gaucho athlete Carson vom Steeg will be providing color commentary throughout the broadcast. An audio-only stream will be available via KCSB-FM 91.9, UCSB's student radio station. A link to both broadcasts can be found on the UCSB men's soccer schedule page.

 

Additionally, an audio-only broadcast of the matchup between UCSB and Pacific on Wednesday will be available on UCSBGauchos.com on the men's soccer schedule page. Sports Information Director Arthur Wilkie will handle the play-by-play while Carson Vom Steeg will be on color duties during the broadcast.

 

Follow the @UCSBMensSoccer account on Twitter for live tweets and highlights from both games this week.

 

After coming away with two wins out of two games in the Pacific Northwest, the Gauchos returned home to Harder Stadium for matchups with Seattle and UMBC. UCSB came away with a pair of wins to extend their winning streak to a season-long four games, while recording clean sheets in three of those games. Sahid Conteh's 25th minute goal, created out of a determined press from deep midfield, secured victory over the Redhawks on Thursday. On Sunday night, Thibault Candia's hat trick, the program's first since 2011, and Will Baynham's short-range strike delivered a 4-0 win over the Retrievers. It was UCSB's first four-goal victory since Sept. 27, 2015 (4-0 vs San Diego).

 

The Gauchos have never lost against Pacific in eight meetings between the two programs. Most recently, the Gauchos upset then-No. 14 Pacific at home 1-0 for their first win of the 2017 season after going winless in the first six games. Ignacio Tellechea scored in the 59th minute off a rebound from his own blocked shot to send Pacific home empty-handed on the night. 

 

Though the Gauchos have found less success against the Cardinal, they have also won the most recent matchup in the all-time series. In the season opener of the 2015 campaign, No. 17 UCSB defeated No. 8 Stanford 1-0 at Harder Stadium. A Seo-In Kim cross to Nick DePuy at the back post late in the first half was enough to see off the Cardinal. The Gauchos earned the first of only two victories that any team would manage against Stanford, as the Pac-12 powerhouse won its first of three straight College Cup titles.

 

The Tigers head into Wednesday night's match with a 3-3-1 record on the season. The Tigers lost head coach Ryan Jorden, who became Pacific's first coach at the Division I level in program history in 2014 and was there for five years, in the offseason to UCLA. Pacific has been outscored 10-7 on the season thus far. After having lost three of its first four games of the season, including away defeats at Virginia and Oregon State, the team has rebounded nicely by going unbeaten in its last three games. UCSB will be the third of four-straight Big West opponents that Pacific is facing, having beaten UC Davis 2-0 and drawing with Sacramento State 1-1. Anthony Orendain leads the team with two goals, while four other players have one apiece. Only five players have assists, with Jose Angel Reyes and Emory Rapaport having a pair each. Pacific has outshot opponents with 14.3 per game with 13 allowed per game.

 

Stanford arrives to Harder Stadium on Saturday as the top team in the country. The defending Pac-12 champions have a perfect 7-0 record on the season so far and have only allowed two goals in the regular season.  In 630 minutes of play this season, Stanford has been behind for just 31:38, and been tied in matches for just over an hour (62:45). Early wins at Penn State and No. 3 Akron, in addition to wins over UC Irvine and Denver helped Stanford rise up the rankings. Gabe Segal tops the charts with four goals, while Ousseni Bouda, Zach Ryan, and Tanner Beason have three each. Andrew Thomas and Matt Frank have been in control between the sticks, with Thomas winning six games and Frank winning the other. The Cardinal have won three of the last four national titles, only missing out on the top prize last year.

 

Senior right wingback Noah Billingsley and junior centerback Hunter Ashworth are with the New Zealand U-23 national team and are unavailable for selection. They are away on international duty for at least the Gauchos run of six matches from Sept. 19 to Oct. 5, depending on their national team's results in the upcoming Oceania Football Confederation U-23 Championship in Fiji. The Kiwi duo are looking to help their home country qualify for its first Olympics since 2012 at the tournament. Billingsley and Ashworth started for New Zealand in the team's 12-0 defeat of American Samoa to book a spot in the semifinal on Monday night, and will meet with the Solomon Islands to battle for top spot in Group A on Thursday night at 11 PM PST.

 

In the match against UMBC, Thibault Candia scored the Gauchos' first hat trick since Luis Silva did the same on September 23, 2011 against San Diego. The first goal came early in the first half when Will Baynham played the ball forward for Candia in midfield, where he dribbled the ball into the left side of the 18-yard box, where his attempted cross into the middle deflected off the foot of an opposing player and into the net. Per NCAA rule 10.4.3, he was credited with a goal because: "an offensive player whose shot or pass is deflected into the goal by a defender or is mishandled by the goalkeeper and allowed to cross into the goal shall receive credit for a shot or a goal, provided the momentum of the shot carried the ball into the goal." In the second half, he put away a penalty into the top left corner and brilliantly dribbled the ball from just past midfield to a few yards behind the top of the box, where he got a shot off with his right foot that the goalkeeper mishandled and spilled into his own net. His For his efforts, he was awarded the Big West Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week award.

 

With his two assists in the match at Oregon State, senior striker Will Baynham became the second Gaucho to record multiple assists in a game this season. The Australian had the primary assists on both freshman attacking midfielder Finn Ballard McBride's equalizer in the 72nd minute and senior attacking midfielder Thibault Candia's game-winner in the 84th minute. He joins Candia on the list, as the Frenchman achieved the feat in the season-opener against UNLV.

 

The UC Santa Barbara men's soccer program is debuting a revamped kids zone this season, featuring activities such as futsal, soccer golf, soccer tennis, and obstacle courses, at Harder Stadium prior to every men's soccer home match. The kids zone will be open to season ticket holders, from 6:30 p.m. up to 15 minutes before kickoff, and also at halftime. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as there is limited space for each game and the kids zone will fill up quickly. The play area will be open to children from the ages of 6 to 12. Event staff will be present to supervise the area, but parents/guardians will be required to sign a liability waiver on the first visit. The area will be located at the north end of Harder Stadium near the Gold Zone and Gaucho Fund hospitality area.

 

Single game tickets to UCSB men's soccer matches are on sale now and can be purchased by online at UCSBgauchos.com, by visiting the ticket office, or calling (805) 893-UCSB.. UCSB season tickets, including a parking pass for the 2019 season, are also still available. Plans start at $50, with combo (men's and women's games) and family plans also available. Certain plans also include priority seating for the Stanford and Cal Poly games.

 

UCSB's 2019 schedule is loaded with quality opponents, including six teams that qualified for the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Pac-12 opponents Cal and Stanford highlight the home schedule, visiting Harder Stadium on either end of September. From the ACC, a traditional powerhouse conference in college soccer, Virginia Tech makes the cross-country trip to play UCSB on Sept. 1. A trip up to the Pacific Northwest to face Gonzaga and Oregon State, as well as the Blue-Green rivalry match against Cal Poly, are some of the other highlights of the non-conference schedule. In conference play, the Gauchos' home matches against Sacramento State, UC Riverside, and UC Irvine offers a chance for revenge against a trio of opponents that UCSB only managed to pick up a single point from (2-2 OT draw at UC Irvine) last season. The final three games of the season see the Gauchos hit the road, culminating in the all-important second chapter of the Blue-Green Rivalry at the Alex G. Spanos Stadium in San Luis Obispo.

 

Last season, UCSB finished 9-0-1 at home, good for its best home record since the 2002 Gauchos went 10-0-0. That came a year after the Gauchos went unbeaten in eight of their 10 home matches during the regular season (4-2-4). In the Vom Steeg era (since 1999), the Gauchos boast a hearty .731 winning percentage (147-46-26).

 

UCSB were picked to finish first in the Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 53 points, tallied from the coaches' votes in which teams were ranked from 1-8 and assigned a corresponding point value, two points ahead of second-placed UC Irvine and eight ahead of CSUN. UCSB also received three first-place votes, whereas Irvine received two, and Cal State Fullerton, UC Riverside, and Cal Poly had one apiece.