The eagerly anticipated 2007 Big West men's soccer campaign didn't disappoint as the league reached new highs both in and out of conference.
The conference went an impressive 31-15-9 against non-conference foes, which included a 3-5-4 mark against teams ranked in any of the four major polls at the time of the match. The strength of the conference was evident on the national scale as six of the seven league schools were in the RPI top 100 entering the NCAA Tournament. UC Santa Barbara's appearance in the Sweet 16 also marked the fifth straight season a Big West school had reached the round of 16 in the national tournament.
Conference play was especially fierce as five clubs recorded double-digit points in the first season of the 12-match league campaign. That's the highest figure since 2003 when all six Big West clubs recorded double-digit points. This also marks the first time that five schools recorded 12 or more points in conference play. UCSB's 29 points surpassed the 2002 Gaucho club for the most in league history. It should be noted however, that the 2002 mark came during the course of a 10-match conference schedule.
UC Santa Barbara entered the season with a bulls-eye on its back as the defending national champion, and the Gauchos' play didn’t disappoint. UCSB won its fifth Big West title in seven seasons and was awarded a #12 seed in the national tournament. The Gauchos reached the Sweet 16 before suffering an emotional loss in double overtime to fifth seed Ohio State on the road. Despite the disappointing finish, UC Santa Barbara had plenty to be proud of as the Gauchos tied a league record with nine conference wins, won three major Big West awards, placed seven players on the All-Big West first team and set a league record for single-match attendance when 8,102 showed up to Harder Stadium for match against Cal Poly November 3.
The surprise of the season came from a newbie as UC Davis completed its reclassification and became the ninth member of the Big West Conference. The Aggies, who were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team conference, far exceeded expectations with a 12-5-3 record and a 7-3-2 mark in Big West play. UCD was honored for its efforts with an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, an excellent accomplishment for a program in its inaugural season of Division I play. To no one's surprise, head coach Dwayne Shaffer was named the Big West Coach of the Year.
Despite not receiving an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, Cal Poly wrapped up a tremendous season which saw them go 6-2-4 in conference play and 11-4-4 overall. The conference and overall victories are the most the Mustangs have registered as a member of the Big West, while the 11 overall triumphs tied the program record for wins set in 1999. Cal Poly drew extremely well in the Central Coast region as an average of 2,092 fans came out to support Mustang soccer. The high attendance of 7,143 against UC Santa Barbara October 17 is the second-highest attendance figure in Big West history.
OF NOTE: UC Santa Barbara placed seven players on the first team All-Big West list and picked up three of the six major awards. In all, the Gauchos led the way with eight total All-Conference selections followed by Cal Poly with six and Cal State Northridge with five ... Andy Iro became the first player in league history to claim a major award three times with his selection as the Defensive Player of the Year ... UC Davis’ first round exit from the NCAA Tournament marked the first time since Cal State Northridge's 1-0 loss to Loyola Marymount in 2004 that a Big West representative fell in the opening stanza ... UC Santa Barbara's Sweet 16 appearance marked the fifth consecutive season a Big West school has made the round of 16.
TEAM-BY-TEAM NOTEBOOKS:
CAL POLY: Cal Poly closed its season at 11-4-4 and 6-2-4 (22 points) in conference play ...Forward David Zamora earned the Big West Freshman of the Year award and was the lone frosh to earn first team All-Big West honors ... Defender K.J. Lenehan also earned first team accolades, while midfielder Kyle Montgomery claimed second team honors and midfielder Anton Peterlin, defender Casey Cordray and goalkeeper Eric Branagan-Franco were named to the honorable mention list.
CAL STATE FULLERTON: Cal State Fullerton wrapped up its season with a record of 7-10-3 overall with a 2-7-3 finish (nine points) in conference play ...Midfielder Michael Farfan earned his second straight first team All-Big West honor, while his twin brother Gabriel claimed second team All-Big West accolades. Michael Farfan's selection marked the first back-to-back first team All-Big West player from CSF since Hector Orellana’s selections from 2002-2004 ... Skyler Thuresson and Brent Douglas also claimed All-Conference honors with their selection to the honorable mention squad.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: Cal State Northridge wrapped up its 2007 season with a record of 7-7-6 overall and 3-5-4 (13 points) in conference play ... Defender Sean Franklin earned his third first team All-Big West honor, while fellow defender Matt Tracy joined him on the first team list ... Star freshman midfielder Raphael Garcia and goalkeeper Kevin Guppy earned second team All-Big West accolades, while midfielder Sunghyun Kim was named honorable mention ... CSUN finished at .500 for the first time as a member of the Big West.
UC DAVIS: #25 UC Davis played in its first-ever NCAA Tournament match, but fell to California on the road in double overtime by a 2-1 margin ... Quincy Amarikwa scored in the 75th minute off a long throw in from Paul Marcoux, while Ryan McCowan picked up a pair of saves for the Aggies ... UCD head coach Dwyane Shaffer was named the Big West Coach of the Year after leading the Aggies to a 7-3-2 record in Big West play and an NCAA Tournament appearance in their inagural season as a member of Division I ... Nicholas Lind, Amarikwa, Paul Cain and Sule Anibaba were named Second Team All-Big West.
UC IRVINE: UC Irvine finished its 2007 season at 6-9-5 overall and 1-8-3 (six points) in conference play ... Matt Murphy and David Sias were named second team All-Big West, while Brandon Foster claimed honorable mention accolades ... The young Anteaters started fast at 5-0-0, but finished 1-9-5 on their way to a sub-.500 season for the first time since 2004.
UC RIVERSIDE: UC Riverside ended 2007 5-6-8 overall and 2-4-6 (12 points) in conference play ... Charles Alamo, the 2007 Goalkeeper of the Year, became the first ever major award winner in men's soccer from UCR and its first team team All-Conference choice since Luc Harrington in 2004 ... David Lozano was named second team All-Big West, while Nathan Paterson, Andrew Villalobos and Cito Soriano were named the honorable mention ... The eight overall ties for UCR breaks the Big West single-season record of six by UC Irvine in 2001, while the six draws in conference play are also the most ever ... The 12 points against Big West foes marks the first time since 2004 that UCR has surpassed the 10-point barrier.
UC SANTA BARBARA: 12th-seeded UC Santa Barbara’s title reign came to a close at the hands of #5 seed Ohio State in double overtime, 4-3. The Sweet 16 matchup was the first-ever between the two schools. The loss wrapped up the defending national champions' 2007 campaign at 13-4-4 overall with a 9-1-2 mark in conference play ... UCSB advanced to the match against OSU after topping Washington 1-0 at Harder Stadium in front of 9,641 spectators ... Chris Pontius, the Big West Offensive Player of the Year, led a contingent of eight Gauchos who were named All-Conference, with seven of those being first team selections. Andy Iro (Defensive Player of the Year) and Ciaran O'Brien (Midfielder of the Year) also claimed major awards for UC Santa Barbara.