SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — For the first time since they won it in 2021, UC Santa Barbara will host The Big West Men's Soccer Championship Final on Friday, with the No. 2 seed Gauchos welcoming the No. 4 seed UC Davis Aggies to Harder Stadium. UC Santa Barbara defeated the Aggies, 3-1, in the regular-season meeting between these two teams.  
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 15 from Harder Stadium. Tickets for the game are on sale now and can be purchased online at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets or by calling the ticket office at 805-893-UCSB(8272). All students currently attending UC Santa Barbara or any Big West member institution receive free admission with a valid student ID.
 
For fans following from afar, the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.
 
HOW THE GAUCHOS GOT HERE
The Gauchos finished the 2024 regular season with a 10-4-4 record, going 4-2-3 in Big West games and 6-0-3 at home. They started the season hot, losing just one of their first eight games and climbing as high as No. 13 in the national rankings. Santa Barbara's tremendous non-conference campaign included a signature season-opening win over Missouri State that saw Alexis Ledoux score twice and assist a third goal and a gritty 3-0 win over perennial powerhouse Portland, both at home.
 
A Blue-Green Rivalry loss at Cal Poly and two ties in Santa Barbara's first four conference games brought the Gauchos back to earth, and as injuries piled up, Santa Barbara lost its first Big West game of the season at Sacramento State. The Gauchos nearly earned a famous victory over Cal State Fullerton on Senior Night despite being reduced to 10 men but had to settle for a draw. They were cut down to 10 men again just three minutes into the regular season finale at UC Riverside last Saturday and a second conference defeat left The Big West Regular Season Championship a point out of reach.
 
They bounced back with a 2-1 win over UC Irvine in the semifinal, the third year in a row that a Gauchos-Anteaters semifinal was decided by a 2-1 scoreline in favor of the home team. Santa Barbara had to come from behind to do it, with second-half goals from Andrew Kamienski and Isaiah Barber making the difference. The victory extended the Gauchos' unbeaten streak at home to 12 consecutive matches, dating back to last October. Over the past three years, Santa Barbara has a 22-4-7 record at Harder Stadium.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Santa Barbara placed a conference-high eight players on All-Big West teams this season, headlined by Big West Offensive Player of the Year Alexis Ledoux. The Frenchman has 14 goals and five assists for a total of 33 points on the season, the second-highest goal and point totals in all of Division I men's soccer this year. Those figures are also eighth and ninth-largest single-season goal and point hauls in Gaucho history respectively. Eleven of Ledoux's 14 goals have come at home, including four in Santa Barbara's last four home games.
 
Mikkel Goeling joins Ledoux on the all-conference first team; the Gauchos could have their Danish midfielder back from a hand injury in time Saturday's game, which would provide a major lift to a bruised midfield corps. Filip Basili was so good filling in for injured members of that midfield that he earned himself a starting spot and an All-Big West Honorable Mention. The Norwegian is enjoying a career year so far, with a goal and five assists in the regular season.
 
Calle Mollerberg and Nicolas Willumsen round out a quartet of all-conference Scandinavians for Santa Barbara. The Swedish Mollerberg has been a crucial piece of the Gaucho defense this season and earned All-Big West Second Team and All-Freshman Team honors. At the other end of the pitch, the Danish Willumsen has been Santa Barbara's top center forward this year, scoring a career-best five goals, including the game-winner over UC Irvine in the regular season. He earned All-Big West Honorable Mention.
 
At the back, Caden Vom Steeg and David Mitzner both earned honorable mentions as well, and Peleg Brown was named to the All-Freshman Team. Brown was tremendous in his rookie season, starting all but one game at left back and playing the third-most minutes of any outfield player for the Gauchos, but he will miss the final after being sent off in the regular season finale — his second red card of the season. Vom Steeg, Santa Barbara's starting right back, is one of only two outfield Gauchos to play more minutes than Brown in the regular season and made his 17^th start of the year in the semifinal. His ability to contribute both defensively and offensively are key to Santa Barbara's success. As for Mitzner, the Gauchos' co-captain has played every minute between the sticks for Santa Barbara this season and is set to get the start there again on Friday.
 
Andrew Kamienski was left off of the All-Big West teams but was excellent as Mollerberg's center back partner all season long. The sophomore from Long Beach played a key role in the Gauchos' semifinal victory, not just on the defensive end but also at the front, scoring his first career goal to level the match and begin Santa Barbara's comeback victory.
 
Isaiah Barber scored the game-winning goal for the Gauchos on Saturday, his second goal of the season. Before the 2024 campaign began, Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg picked Barber as a player to watch after a breakout spring season, and the sophomore's score on Saturday proved his coach's confidence right. Kaden Standish assisted both Barber and Kamienski's goals on Saturday; Vom Steeg picked him as a surefire 2025 All-Big West honoree prior to this season, and his performances have shown why, with the Danville native racking up three goals and now five assists over 17 appearances.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis (9-5-6, 4-3-2 Big West) finished the season hot to earn the No. 4 seed for The Big West Championship and are unbeaten in their last six matches. A rivalry win at Sacramento State on the season's final day carried them into postseason action, where they defeated No. 5 seed Cal State Bakersfield, 2-1, in the First Round then upset No. 1 seed Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Sunday, winning on penalty kicks after the match finished as a 1-1 draw. The last time the Aggies lost was Oct. 16, when they visited Santa Barbara.
 
UC Davis placed five players on All-Big West teams this season, with Santa Barbara native Cason Goodman's First Team selection the headline. Goodman has a team-high nine goals on the season, the second most by an Aggie since UC Davis became a Division I program in 2004. He was kept off the scoresheet on Sunday but did take and score the Aggies' first penalty in the shootout. The semifinal ended a streak of four consecutive games with a goal or assist for Goodman.
 
Midfielders Lucas Fernandez-Kim and Zack Lillington each made the all-conference second team for the Aggies this season. Both men scored a goal and assisted four more during the regular season, but Fernandez-Kim has assisted in each of the Aggies' two Big West Championship games so far to bring his total up to a team-high six.
 
Senior forward Keegan Walwyn-Bent earned All-Big West Honorable Mention this season, a campaign which he started red-hot recording braces against Santa Clara and San Diego State in non-conference play. However, he went nearly the entire conference campaign without appearing on the scoresheet before tallying an assist in the regular-season finale. He got back in the goals by scoring Davis' game-winner against Cal State Bakersfield in the first round.
 
Rookie defender Carson Hammond picked up an All-Freshman team nod for the Aggies; with 1566 minutes played so far, he has spent more time on the field than all but two of his teammates and has not missed a second of postseason action. In the regular-season finale, he recorded a goal and assist to help his team qualify for The Big West Championship.
 
Other Aggies to watch include freshman midfielder Zachary Neuls, who scored Davis' lone goal when they visited Santa Barbara in the regular season. He has scored in both of the Aggies' postseason matches thus far.
 
When Davis visited the Gauchos back in October, they deployed two goalkeepers, giving junior Noah Schwengeler the start but replacing him with redshirt freshman Mekhai Wilson at halftime. They deployed the same strategy in Sunday's semifinal, with Wilson making three saves in the second half and overtime before saving a penalty kick to send the Aggies through in the shootout. When Davis came to Santa Barbara, Wilson made two second-half saves while allowing one goal, while Schwengeler allowed two goals to just one save in the first half.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of Friday night's championship match will not only claim The Big West crown, but also an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, with their seeding and opponent to be announced during the NCAA Men's Soccer Selection Show on Monday, Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. The Gauchos do still have a chance to make the tournament without the automatic bid, as they are currently 35^th in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). A total of 48 teams will make the tournament, with 22 as automatic qualifiers and 26 as at-large selections.