SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer has scored a victory off the field in the Blue-Green Rivalry this offseason, signing former Cal Poly number 10 Ocean Salari away from the Mustangs in the transfer portal.
 
"Ocean is a great addition to our program," Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg said of his new forward. "His speed and ability to beat players one-v-one has been a missing piece for the team the last couple of years."
 
Salari's talents made him one of the bright spots in a largely lackluster Cal Poly attack, though the Scottsdale, Arizona native last played for the Mustangs in 2022. Salari spent the fall of 2023 exploring professional opportunities before ultimately deciding to return to college and come to UC Santa Barbara.
 
Salari donned soccer's most coveted number, 10, for Cal Poly as a sophomore and had a breakout season in 2022. He featured in 15 of the Mustang's games that season, starting nine of them. He had a flair for the dramatic too; he assisted Cal Poly's 90^th minute game-tying goal against UC Riverside, stealing two points away from the eventual conference champions.
 
"It is not lost on us that when we played Cal Poly, the one player we had to account for was Ocean," Vom Steeg said. "It will be of great help that we don't have to play against him next year."  
 
Instead, Vom Steeg and his staff will get to unleash Salari on their opponents. With last season's top creative attacker, Lucas Gonzalez, graduating, the number 10 shirt is open for Salari, as is that sparkplug role in the attack. Salari could form a dynamic duo with French forward Alexis Ledoux, who's own one-on-one abilities were on display in 2023, especially against Cal Poly.
 
Salari becomes the fifth member of UC Santa Barbara's 2024 signing class, alongside incoming freshmen Jacob Medina, Colby Renton, Zac Siebenlist and Peleg Brown. All five join a Gauchos squad looking to go a couple steps further than they did in 2023. Last season's team finished with a 10-8-2 record, suffering defeat in The Big West Semifinal.