SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The No. 1 seed UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer team begins its hunt for a 15^th Big West Championship in the conference semifinal this Saturday, welcoming No. 5 seed UC Davis to Harder Stadium. While the game is a rematch of last year's Big West Championship Final, which the Aggies won, 2-0, it is also an exact rematch of the 2021 Big West Semifinal, which the Gauchos won, 1-0 in double overtime, en route to their most recent Big West tournament championship.
 
LAST TIME OUT
While UC Davis had to win a first-round penalty shootout at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday night to make their way to Santa Barbara, the Gauchos have been comfortably at home since winning The Big West Regular Season Championship and securing the no. 1 seed with their 1-1 draw at CSUN on Saturday. Zac Siebenlist scored a clutch second-half goal to help the Gauchos secure the result despite having played a man down from the 41^st minute onward.
 
The result was a draw when Santa Barbara and Davis got together in the regular season as well, though without any red cards (or goals). Gaucho goalkeeper Owen Beninga needed to make just two saves to keep the Aggies from scoring, while Santa Barbara forced six saves out of Davis goalkeeper Noah Schwengeler. The Aggies do have the most recent (and most significant) victory in this fixture, a 2-0 win in the 2024 Big West Championship Final at Harder Stadium. They also beat the Gauchos in the 2019 final, 2-0 in Davis.
 
GAUCHOS TO KNOW
Of course, neither team is the same squad that played that 2024 final, especially the Santa Barbara side which includes 16 new players this season, a number of whom have already made major impacts. Icelandic forward Steinar Bjornsson was a mainstay in the lineup all season long and earned Big West Freshman of the Year honors on Tuesday, one of eight Gauchos to earn all-conference acclaim. Captain Calle Mollerberg was named Big West Defensive Player of the Year and joined Kaden Standish and Siebenlist on the All-Big West First Team. Owen Beninga, who kept seven clean sheets across just nine starts in his freshman season, was one of two Gauchos on the All-Big West Second Team, alongside Eddie Villeda, who was the consummate team player working out of position as Santa Barbara's left back. Beninga also joined Bjornsson on The Big West All-Freshman Team, while Buba Fofanah and Drew Kamienski each collected all-conference honorable mentions. To read more about the Gauchos' eight All-Big West student-athletes, click here.
 
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
UC Davis had four players earn spots on all-conference teams, headlined by Santa Barbara-born twins Cason and Luke Goodman on the All-Big West First Team. Forward Cason was the Aggies' leading scorer with five goals and four assists on the season while defender Luke led UC Davis with 1492 minutes played in the regular season. He has not stepped off the pitch since Sept. 13, including going all 110 minutes of the Aggies' first round match at Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday night. Defender Zack Lillington earned All-Big West Second Team honors and fellow defenseman Nami Banks was named to the All-Freshman Team.
 
Perhaps the most important Aggie who missed out on all-conference recognition is their goalkeeper, Schwengeler. The Swiss made eight saves in regulation and overtime, then a ninth in the penalty shootout, forcing the only failed attempt from either side as UC Davis advanced. He also made six stops to prevent the Gauchos from coming home with anything more than one point during the regular season.
 
The Aggies enter Saturday as the no. 5 seed, having only clinched their spot in the tournament on the final day of what had long looked like a failed season. UC Davis did not win their first game of the year until Oct. 11 and finished with just four victories. However, three of those came in their last four matches, including finding a last-minute winner in their regular-season visit to Fullerton for a 2-1 win.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
Saturday's semifinal will kick off at 7 p.m. from Harder Stadium. Tickets are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets, and students from UC Santa Barbara and all Big West member institutions receive free admission with a valid campus ID. For fans following from afar, the match will be live on ESPN+ with live stats available through ucsbgauchos.com.