SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (July 20, 2023) — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team announced its full 2023 schedule on Thursday. The 18-game season will be Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg's 25th leading the Gauchos, as UC Santa Barbara looks to claim an eighth Big West Championship and return to the national postseason.  

"The goal of your season is to make the NCAA Tournament," Vom Steeg said. "So, all the games that lead up to that are to prepare you for conference play, and then conference play into postseason play."

Before the regular season begins, UC Santa Barbara will host a pair of pre-season exhibitions at Harder Stadium. Action begins on August 13 with Gauchos welcoming Loyola Marymount to town and continues on August 20 with UC Santa Barbara and Westmont facing off in the annual Community Shield Game. Like all home matches this season, both exhibitions will kick off at 7 p.m.

The Gauchos will then start the regular season with non-conference play, featuring tough road tests and a collection of exciting home contests.

"We have a couple really difficult places to play on the road, Grand Canyon and Portland," Vom Steeg said. "And we have games at home that I think will be very entertaining." 

The regular season begins at home, with the Gauchos hosting Oral Roberts on August 25 and Pacific on August 28. As part of their community outreach program, UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer will welcome local faith groups to Harder Stadium for Faith Night during their season opener and will host a Frontline Workers Night during the game against Pacific.

September brings those two tough road trips, with the Gauchos heading north to face Portland, who finished as the No. 10 team in the country last season, on the first of the month. UC Santa Barbara will then head to Phoenix on September 12 to meet Grand Canyon. The Gauchos make their final non-conference road trip on September 19, taking on California Baptist in Riverside.

Between those road trips, UC Santa Barbara will host four non-conference matches in September, beginning with UNLV on September 4 for First Responders Night. The Gauchos will follow that by hosting Utah Valley on September 9 and will hold an AYSO Banner Parade during the game. UC Santa Barbara will host Kansas City for Hispanic Heritage Night on September 16 and round out their non-conference schedule on September 23 by hosting Cal Poly. That Blue-Green Rivalry game will also be Alumni Night at Harder Stadium.

The Big West season begins on September 27 for the Gauchos, as they head south to La Jolla and take on UC San Diego, beginning their quest for the conference title.

"I think the conference this year will continue to rebound and continue to be better than it was last year," Vom Steeg said, looking at this year's Big West opposition. "Consequently, it will be a conference that hopefully will be able to put two or three teams into the NCAA Tournament."

The Gauchos wrap up September with a rematch of last season's Big West Semifinal, welcoming UC Irvine to Harder Stadium on September 30. That game will be Santa Barbara Soccer Club and Central Coast Academy Club Night.

UC Santa Barbara heads north to take on UC Davis on October 4 before returning to Harder Stadium for two of their final three home games. The Gauchos will host defending Big West Champions UC Riverside on October 7 for Elementary School Night and CSU Bakersfield on October 11 for Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night. 

UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly will meet for the second time this season on October 15 in San Luis Obispo before the Gauchos play their home finale on October 18 against Sacramento State. The game against the Hornets will be UC Santa Barbara's Senior Night, as the Gauchos' final two games of the regular season are on the road, at CSUN on October 21 and at Cal State Fullerton on October 28.

The Big West Championships begin with the quarterfinal round on November 1, with the semifinal round set for November 4. The Big West Championship will be played on November 11. The quarterfinals will be hosted by the higher seed in each matchup, while the semifinals and championship will be hosted by the regular-season champion and No. 1 overall seed. 
 
This season, UC Santa Barbara Soccer is selling one season ticket for all of the men's and women's games. This gives fans the chance to catch all of the excitement for both of our teams in the race for a Big West Championship. These tickets will go on sale Wednesday, July 26.