SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 23 UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team will look to keep their unbeaten start to Big West play rolling this week, as the Gauchos will host UC Davis at Harder Stadium on Wednesday before visiting Sacramento State in the capitol on Saturday. With two wins and two draws so far in conference play, Santa Barbara comes into the week tied for first place in the standings.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
The Gauchos will welcome UC Davis to Harder Stadium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night, while their match with Sacramento State will kick off at 3 p.m. in Sacramento on Saturday. Both matches will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Santa Barbara comes into the week after a win and a draw in their only week-long conference road trip of the season. Alexis Ledoux's 10^th goal of the season saved a point for the Gauchos at Cal State Bakersfield last Wednesday, then Nicolas Willumsen's goal and a rock-solid defensive effort earned the Gauchos their first win in Irvine since 2015 on Saturday.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Mikkel Goeling played a big role in defeating both the Aggies and Hornets in 2023, assisting the game-winning goal in Davis and scoring twice against Sacramento State at Harder Stadium. Last week, the Dane played further back, filling in for Manu Duah as the Gauchos' holding midfielder for all 180 minutes of action in Bakersfield and Irvine.
 
Goeling's fellow Dane Nicolas Willumsen scored the game-winning goal for Santa Barbara in Irvine on Saturday night and found the back of the net against UC Davis back in 2023. The Gauchos would love for him to do it again this week; two of Willumsen's three goals on the year have proven to be game-winners.
 
What made Willumsen's score stick on Saturday was the effort of the UC Santa Barbara backline: Caden Vom Steeg, Andrew Kamienski, Calle Mollerberg and Peleg Brown, with Haruki Utsumi available to replace tired legs or add a third center back off the bench. Together, that unit has helped goalkeeper David Mitzner to six shutouts and a 0.692 goals-against average on the year.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis (5-4-4, 1-2-1 Big West) has had an up-and-down season so far, losing at Pacific and drawing with Utah Valley at home in the opening week but then ripping off a four-game win streak against Santa Clara, Oregon State, Saint Mary's and San Francisco. The Aggies dropped their first two conference matches at home, both by 1-0 scorelines, then grabbed a draw at CSUN and beat Cal State Fullerton in their last match.
 
Statistically speaking, the Aggies are around average in pretty much every category; their offense ranks just inside the top 100 teams nationally, averaging 1.46 goals per game, while their defense ranks just outside, with a 1.308 team goals-against average. By comparison, the Gauchos own the nation's 45^th best scoring offense, averaging 1.85 goals per game, and the 12^th best team GAA of 0.692.
 
UC Davis freshman Rafael Matiello comes into Wednesday night's matchup red hot, having scored both Aggie goals against Cal State Fullerton to bring his total to three on the season. Only two Aggies have scored more: Keegan Walwyn-Bent and Cason Goodman. Walwyn-Bent has only scored in two games but scored twice in both of those games, while Goodman has been the most consistent goal-scorer of the year. He scored in three straight games as the calendar turned from August to September, and he got the Aggies' first goal of conference play at CSUN last Wednesday.
 
SCOUTING THE HORNETS
Sacramento State (4-7-2, 1-3 Big West) comes into the week just one place off the bottom of The Big West standings, and they have a date with that last-place team, CSUN on Wednesday before they host the Gauchos. The Hornets will hope their role as host will give them an advantage, as they do have a winning record (2-1-1) at Hornet field this year.
 
When Sacramento State has had success this year, at home or on the road, it has been thanks to their youngsters. No team in The Big West has had more Freshman of the Week honorees than the Hornets, who have had three: Fernando Venegas, Ethan Kelly and Sean Battistessa. Donovan Sessoms, their leading scorer on the year is just a year older, a sophomore.
 
In goal, the Hornets are set to start Mac Learned, whose 64 saves on the season rank third among all Division I goalkeepers. While he has a solid save percentage of 0.753, Learned's goals-against average of 1.68 puts him outside the top 150 goalkeepers nationwide.
 
UP NEXT
UC Santa Barbara will host its final home matches of the season next week, welcoming CSUN to town on Oct. 23 and Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 26. Kickoff for both matches is set at 7 p.m. from Harder Stadium.