SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team is back home for a weekend of soccer at Harder Stadium, with matches against New Hampshire on Friday and Westmont on Saturday. Friday's meeting between the Wildcats and Gauchos will be the first ever, while Saturday will be the 61^st meeting in the Community Shield, a cross-town rivalry that dates back to 1967, the very first season of UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer.
 
WHEN AND WHERE TO WATCH
Both of this weekend's matches will kick off at 7 p.m. from Harder Stadium, and both matches will have live stats available on ucsbgauchos.com. Additionally, Friday night's match against New Hampshire will be live on ESPN+.
 
The Gauchos are excited to invite members of the Santa Barbara community to join them at Harder Stadium all season long. Friday night is UC Santa Barbara's 2024 AYSO Parade Night. Local American Youth Soccer Association teams are invited to come show their team pride and take the field in a halftime parade. AYSO players who wear their jersey will receive free admission to the game.
 
Saturday night's match against Westmont will be Legends Fútbol Academy Night and Faith Night at Harder Stadium. Legends players and their families as well as local faith groups are invited to join the Gauchos at Harder Stadium for the match. Legends players who wear their jersey will receive free admission to the game. For more information, visit ucsbgauchos.com/CommunityNights.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Gauchos come in riding a two-match winning streak after beating UNLV, 4-1, on Friday and grinding out a 1-0 win at Pacific on Monday. Alexis Ledoux scored twice against the Rebels to bring his conference-leading goal total up to five on the season, while Ramses Martinez scored his first goal of the season against Pacific. David Mitzner continued to hold down the goalkeeper position behind the Gauchos' strong back line, saving all three of the shots on target against the Tigers to earn his second career shutout.
 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
New Hampshire (2-1-1) came into their first season under new head coach Rich Weinrebe ranked No. 9 in the United Soccer Coaches' Preseason Poll, but a draw with Boston University and a loss to then-No. 12 Western Michigan have knocked them out of the top 25. The Wildcats are back on the up-and-up, winning consecutive 3-2 decisions against William & Mary and Princeton. They will come to Santa Barbara on a full week's rest, having last played on Sept. 6.
 
Forward Matthew Goncalves scored an 87^th minute winner in that Sept. 6 win over Princeton, his second goal of the season. The only Wildcat to find the back of the net more often than Goncalves is fellow forward Ibrahim Conde, who was named America East Player of the Week last week after scoring two of his three goals on the year against William & Mary. Attacking midfielder Federico Tellez has lived up to his No. 10 jersey so far this season, leading the Wildcats with three assists. However, only five of the 20 New Hampshire outfield players to see minutes this season have recorded a goal or assist. By contrast, 15 Gauchos have recorded at least one point so far in 2024.
 
In goal, the Wildcats have relied on senior Erik Lauta, an Aptos native who has played every minute between the sticks this season. He shut out Boston U in the opener but needed only one save to do so. He has just five saves in four games, with five goals against him.
 
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
Westmont (1-0-1) comes into Saturday's 61^st Community Shield Match looking for their first win over the Gauchos since 2017, and the Warriors might just fancy their chances, seeing as they will have had a full week of rest. While the match will not count toward Santa Barbara's record, it does count for Westmont, who are in their first season as full members of NCAA Division II.
 
The Warriors are undefeated after their first week of action, thanks in large part to PacWest Player of the Week Erik Guerrero. The junior forward scored in both of Westmont's games last weekend, tallying the game-tying goal in the 1-1 draw with Simon Fraser (B.C.) and the decisive goal in the 3-0 win over Saint Martin's (Washington). Underclassmen Cole Lomeli and Yordan Marinov also have goals for the Warriors. Forward Michael Stull tallied Westmont's lone goal against the Gauchos in last season's meeting.
 
Brady Highfill, who made 10 saves against Santa Barbara in 2023, is back in goal for the Warriors in 2024. The Gauchos will want to make him work harder than he has had two in his first two matches this season; through 180 minutes Highfill has only had to deal with four shots on target. He saved three of them.
 
UP NEXT
Santa Barbara's final regular-season out-of-state road trip is up next, as the Gauchos will head to Utah and face the Utah Valley Wolverines on Thursday, Sept. 19. It will be a first-ever trip to the Beehive State for the Gauchos, who have hosted the Wolverines in each of the last two seasons, scoring five goals in both contests. Kickoff from Clyde Field in Orem is set for 4 p.m. Pacific Time, and the match will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.