KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The United Soccer Coaches continued announcing its Players to Watch List on Monday, naming the top men's and women's defenders returning for the 2026 campaign. UC Santa Barbara's Calle Mollerberg is one of the 20 men's Defenders to Watch for the upcoming season after his rock-solid year in 2025.
 
The Gauchos' captain and leader in minutes played last year, Mollerberg started all 20 matches and anchored a Santa Barbara defense that finished the 2025 regular season with a team goals-against-average and a team shutout percentage both among the top 48 teams in the country. With Mollerberg leading the back line, the Gauchos kept a total of nine shutouts, one of the top 10 seasons in program history defensively. The big Swede is one of three defenders on the 20-man watch list who played in The Big West last season, but he was the one who took home the title of Big West Defensive Player of the Year in 2025, the 13^th Gaucho to earn that particular honor.
 
Mollerberg joins his teammate, goalkeeper Owen Beninga, on the USC Division-I Players to Watch list for 2026, the first UC Santa Barbara duo to be named to the list since the practice began in 2022.
 
Mollerberg, Beninga and the Gauchos play two preseason exhibitions — the Blue/Gold Scrimmage and a friendly against LMU — at home at Harder Stadium before opening the season in earnest by hosting San Jose State on Aug. 21. Season and single-game tickets are available now at ucsbgauchos.com/tickets.