SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The new year has brought new faces to Soccer Heaven, as UC Santa Barbara Men's Soccer Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg announced the five newest members of the Gauchos' 2026 freshman class on Wednesday. Matteo Crisera, Gavin Sampognaro, Nathan Riner, Jakob Methvin and Gunnar Franke have all signed up to join the Gauchos’ squad next fall, joining Ty Branigan in what will be a six-player rookie cohort.

“The landscape of college athletics has changed and moving forward we can anticipate more player movement between programs," Vom Steeg said. "Because of our facilities, location, quality of education, and success on the field, we remain highly attractive to some of the best players who are both looking for a new home as well as high school graduates.” 

Three of the newcomers — Crisera, Sampognaro and Riner — are Southern California locals, while Methvin comes to Santa Barbara from Colorado and Franke all the way from Spain, by way of Plymouth, England. The five soon-to-be rookies span the length of the pitch positionally, with Crisera a central defender, Sampognaro a defensive midfielder, Riner an attacking midfielder ahead of him and Franke an out-and-out center forward, while Methvin has played everywhere from left back to left wing in his youth career. 

Matteo Crisera | Defender | 6’1” | Beach FC

Starting at the back in the tradition of great Gaucho teams, Crisera will arrive in Santa Barbara as heir-apparent to the current squad’s tremendous central defenders, Drew Kamienski and 2025 Big West Defensive Player of the Year Calle Mollerberg, and he brings a resume already fit to rival theirs. The Manhattan Beach native was named the 2025 ECNL Southwest Conference Player of the Year and an All-American with Beach FC, whom he led to a quarterfinal appearance in the 2024 ECNL Playoffs. He was just as good, if not better, in this year’s postseason, with TopDrawerSoccer naming him to their ECNL Playoffs Best XI. He has been a leader on his Mira Costa High School squad as well, leading the Mustangs to the CIF Open Division Semifinals in 2024 and quarterfinals in 2025. 

“We are continuing a trend, begun with Drew Kamienski and most recently Cole Harris, of recruiting American center backs," Vom Steeg said. "Similarly, Matteo is big, athletic, and most importantly, has a good understanding of the game and the position. We are anticipating that he will be able to step in after the graduation of both of our center backs.” 

Gavin Sampognaro | Defensive Midfielder | 5’8” | Legends FC

Coming in to bolster the pivotal “pivot” role at the base of the Gaucho midfield is CIF Champion Sampognaro, who earned First Team All-CIF honors after leading the Highlanders to the Southern Section crown in 2024. He is also a three-time All-Baseline League First Team honoree and three-time team MVP. In the winter of 2025, he led the Highlanders to a Baseline League title. He also earned first team all-league honors with his club team, Legends FC, whom he led to a championship at San Diego’s prestigious Surf Cup, helping Legends claim the Best of Best crown. 

“Gavin was one of the best midfielders in California to come out of the 2025 class,” Vom Steeg said. "What sets him apart is his competitive drive to succeed and his on field leadership skills — two qualities that will allow him to complete for playing time even as a freshman. Gavin is part of our emphasis at UC Santa Barbara to find players who can help us win games by what they do with and without the ball.”

Nathan Riner | Attacking Midfielder | 6’0” | Santa Barbara Soccer Club

A native of Ventura, Riner is no stranger to Soccer Heaven, having come up through Santa Barbara Soccer Club’s MLS Next setup, a program which consistently competes in the league’s national playoffs. Playing for Ventura High School, Riner made an instant impact, earning all-county acclaim as just a sophomore, and has continued developing since. An attacking-minded midfielder, Riner will be one of the Gauchos tasked with replacing the unstoppable engine of Ramses Martinez in the center of the park and will join the likes of Steinar Bjornsson and Kaden Standish in the corps of creative players supporting Santa Barbara’s strikers next season. 

“We are extremely pleased to be able to add one of the most talented players from Santa Barbara Soccer Club to the program," Vom Steeg said. "Nathan’s game is unique because he has the ability to change the game with either a pass or the dribble. Nathan’s arrival here is highly anticipated because in our opinion, he has the potential to develop into one of the best attacking midfielders in The Big West.”

Jakob Methvin | Left Back/Left Winger | Colorado United

While Methvin has played some left back in his career, he dominated The Centennial State as a left-sided forward in 2025, scoring more goals than any other high schooler in Colorado for Battle Mountain High en route to 4A State Player of the Year and Colorado President Cup National Player of the Year honors as well as an invite to the 2025 High School All-American Game. He set the Battle Mountain record for single-season goals and comes to Santa Barbara having tallied 81 of them across his career for the Huskies, plus 46 assists. While his experience makes him as valuable as the graduating Eddie Villeda — an attacking midfielder who dropped to left back to fill a hole in 2025 — Methvin’s talent makes him potentially as deadly as 2024 Big West Offensive Player of the Year Alexis Ledoux.

“Jakob had an incredible prep career," Vom Steeg said. "The combination of speed, size, athleticism, and skill was unmatched by any other high school player in Colorado. There is no reason for us not to believe that he will successfully transition his game to the college level in a fairly short time. Just as important for us here, Jakob is capable of playing in several different positions on the field. This quality is similarly to another Gaucho great, Nick DePuy who also came to us from Colorado. Nick started as a center midfielder and ended up as the leading goal scorer in The Big West.”

Gunnar Franke | Striker | Plymouth Argyle FC

And Methvin is not the only lethal finisher in the Gauchos’ bundle of signings, as Franke is currently lighting it up in England with Plymouth Argyle and Plymouth College’s youth teams. Through his first seven games, he tallied 11 goals and four assists, building on a five-goal, three-assist haul over nine matches during his first (shortened) season in English football. Swedish born and raised in Spain, Franke has been a goal machine at every stop of his youth career, highlighted by a 33-goal, 12-assist campaign over just 23 games in the 2021-22 season with his hometown Marbella FC. After moving to England and joining Plymouth Argyle’s U19 team midway through the 2024-25 season, he helped the Pilgrims with the National Football Youth League and reach the U19 Premier Cup. Now, he is captaining Plymouth Argyle’s new high-performance U18 program, run in collaboration with Plymouth College. The Gauchos will look for Franke to use all his experience to become their next great center forward.

“Gunnar is part of the next generation of center forwards in the world today," Vom Steeg said. "The expectation of a player in that position is for him to score goals, provide hold up play, and engage the center backs both offensively and defensively. It is unusual to find a player with all of those qualities who decides to hold off on professional aspirations to continue his education and playing career at a university.  We are very pleased that he has decided UC Santa Barbara is the best place for him.”