SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2023) - The UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer team returns home after a four-match road trip. The Gauchos' next four games will be played at Harder Stadium as they take on the San Francisco Dons and Idaho Vandals.
Thursday's match against San Francisco will be the first of many community outreach programs going on throughout the 2023 season at Harder Stadium. UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer will welcome and recognize those who are currently fighting or who have courageously battled childhood cancer in their Childhood Cancer Awareness Kickoff Night.
Sunday's match against Idaho will be the second community outreach program going on this week. UC Santa Barbara Women's Soccer will host AYSO Team Parade at halftime. AYSO participants will show off their team pride during halftime with team banners.
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos and Dons will meet for the 16th time with UC Santa Barbara leading the all-time series 9-5-1. Both teams are coming off a draw in their last game as UC Santa Barbara came from behind to earn a 2-2 draw against Iowa State and USF earned a scoreless draw against Columbia.
The Gauchos and Vandals will meet for the 11th time with UC Santa Barbara holding the upper hand in the all-time series at 7-2-1. The Vandals played just one match last week as they are coming off a come-from-behind draw with Nevada.
SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
The Gauchos come into their home stand with a 1-2-3 overall record on the season. UC Santa Barbara has split their contests against West Coast Conference opponents this season, defeating Loyola Marymount and falling to Pacific.
Lauren Helwig took over the team lead in goals and points after her two-goal outing against Iowa State on Sunday, Sept. 3. Helwig netted two penalty kick goals to help the Gauchos earn a tie with Iowa State. The senior midfielder currently ranks fourth in goals and ninth in points in The Big West.
Brenna Madruga leads a defense that has held opponents to just over one goal per match. The junior has played all but 10 minutes in the 2023 season and before being substituted for in the 43rd minute against Iowa State had played 402 consecutive minutes.
SCOUTING THE DONS
The Dons come into the match still in search of their first win in the 2023 season and currently are 0-4-1. San Francisco currently sits 0-1 on the season against Big West opponents as they fell to UC Davis, 3-1 on Sunday. Aug. 27.
Forward, Lindsey Chau and midfielder, Marissa Vasquez were selected to the 2023 All-WCC Women's Soccer Preseason Team. Vasquez is one of two Dons to score a goal in the Green and Gold this season.
On the defensive side, junior Allison Kamansky has played all 90 minutes in San Francisco's first five matches of the season. To help the backline goalkeeper, Kira Ybarra currently ranks fourth in the WCC in saves.
SCOUTING THE VANDALS
Idaho soccer last played on Thursday, Aug. 31 against Nevada. The lone match of the week ended in a 1-1 draw. The Vandals came back from a first-half deficit to earn their first tie of the season. Idaho enters the weekend with a 3-1-1 record and a 2-0 record on the road. The Vandals will make a stop at CSUN before coming to Santa Barbara on Sunday.
The Vandals enter the weekend with five different players having scored a goal so far this season and two that have netted more than one. Annika Farley and Jayde Sprague are tied for the team lead in goals with two, while Farley leads the team in points with five and Sprague is just behind her with four.
Idaho's defense is strong allowing just one goal per match. The Vandal keeper, Kira Wit has played every minute in goal and has posted two clean sheets so far. She currently ranks third in goals-against average, second in saves and fourth in saves per game in the Big Sky Conference.
FOLLOW ALONG
The Gauchos and Dons will kick off at Harder Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 7 at 7 p.m. For those unable to attend in person the game will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
On Sunday, Sept. 10, UC Santa Barbara will host Idaho at Harder Stadium with a 12 p.m. (noon) kickoff. Like all home Women's Soccer matches the game will be streamed through ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
