KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Aug. 4, 2023) — United Soccer Coaches released the first part of its Men's Players to Watch list for the 2023 season on Friday, naming UC Santa Barbara's Leroy Zeller one of six Division I Goalkeepers to Watch for the upcoming year.
 
The Zulpich, Germany native enters the 2023 campaign as one of UC Santa Barbara's most successful goalkeepers, already ranking seventh in program history with 16 career shutouts. He picked up seven of those clean sheets last season as part of a stellar campaign which earned him Big West Co-Goalkeeper of the Year and All-Big West First Team honors, plus a spot on the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Second Team.
 
The Players to Watch list is compiled by United Soccer Coaches' Division I All-America Committee and features players who received All-Region and All-America honors in 2022. Zeller is one of two 2022 All-Far West Region honorees to be named Goalkeepers to Watch for 2023, alongside Washington's Sam Fowler, who is also the only other senior on the list. The complete Goalkeepers to Watch list is available by clicking here.
 
United Soccer Coaches will announce their Defenders, Midfielders, and Forwards to Watch over the course of the next two weeks, ahead of the start of the 2023 soccer season.
 
The 2023 regular season begins on August 25 for the Gauchos, when they host Oral Roberts at 7 p.m. at Harder Stadium. Before then, Zeller and UC Santa Barbara will host a pair of exhibition games at Harder Stadium, on August 13 against LMU and August 19 against Westmont.