SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — The Big West announced its first-ever Men's Soccer Rookie of the Week as part of its weekly honors on Monday, giving the award to UC Santa Barbara newcomer Simone Ferrieri. The Italian announced his arrival in college soccer with emphasis on Friday night, scoring his first career goal and helping secure a clean sheet in the Gauchos' 3-0 victory over San Jose State.
 
Ferrieri started and played just shy of an hour as Santa Barbara's right back in the opener, contributing to a smothering defense which allowed just one shot in the first half, four in the entire match and none on target to shut out the Spartans. On top of his defensive duties, Ferrieri made frequent forays forward as the Gauchos' wide defenders are asked to do, and did so with aplomb. His overlapping runs down the right wing put him in great position to play crosses into the box, but he got himself on the box score for finishing a move rather than starting one. Late in the first half, Ferrieri peeled away from his defender on a corner kick and connected with a simple header to score Santa Barbara's second goal of the game.
 
The Big West Rookie of the Year award is new for 2026, replacing the old Freshman of the Week award. Under the new criteria, any student-athlete playing collegiate soccer for the first time in 2026 is eligible for the title. Ferrieri himself is academically a graduate student, studying Project Management and Sports Management through UC Santa Barbara's PaCE program, but Friday night was his first game in NCAA competition.
 
Ferrieri's second collegiate soccer match will see him (and the Gauchos) host No. 17 Marshall for the first time at Harder Stadium on Thursday, Aug. 27. Single-game and season tickets for all of UC Santa Barbara's home soccer matches are on sale now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets or by calling the ticket office at (805) 893-UCSB(8272).