The Central Coast men's soccer rivalry is on the docket this week as Cal Poly heads to UC Santa Barbara in a matchup of early Big West contenders. Expect a big crowd on hand as an average of 9,017 have watched the two teams battle in the previous four regular season contests.
NOTEWORTHY
Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg - UCSB
Now in the 11th year at the helm of his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara head coach Tim Vom Steeg is on the verge of a major Big West milestone. With just one more victory, Vom Steeg will be the all-time winningest coach in Big West lore, passing former Fresno State manager Jose Elgorriaga’s total of 126 wins. Vom Steeg is already the career leader in league-only triumphs, posting his 60th career win against Big West foes with the Gauchos’ victory against UC Irvine on September 27. He is the lone coach in Big West history to post 60 win in conference play.
Central Coast Rivalry Part I
One of the hottest rivalries in college soccer has its first installment of the 2009 season as Cal Poly makes the short trip to Harder Stadium for a matchup against UC Santa Barbara Wednesday night. The match has been one of the hottest tickets in the region as the last four regular season contests have seen crowds of 11,075 and 7,143 in San Luis Obispo and 9,749 and 8,102 in Santa barbara. UCSB has had the upper hand against its Central Coast rivals, going 2-1-1 in the last four regular season contests and posting a shootout win over the Mustangs in the inaugural Big West Tournament a year ago.
UCSB Packs Harder for TV Match
UC Santa Barbara's 3-0 home win over Indiana was not only witnessed by a national television audience, but also by 10,114 fans in Harder Stadium. The crowd is the largest to witness an NCAA soccer match this season, the third largest on-campus crowd in NCAA regular season history, the sixth-largest NCAA regular season crowd and a UCSB regular season school record.
Flipping the Script
Cal Poly’s season has only been 10 games to this point, but you’ll have to excuse the Mustangs for feeling like they’ve aged a couple years thanks to some tight contests. After losing its first three one-goal matches, including one in double overtime, Cal Poly has rebounded to win its last three one-goal contests. Two of the matches have been 1-0 finals in favor of the Mustangs, giving them six vital points in the early going of the conference season.
Marcoux Gets Back to Scoring Ways
UC Davis senior midfielder Paul Marcoux is a marked man in the eyes of opposing defenses, but he has managed to find his way through the opposition to provide some goal scoring punch for the Aggies. Marcoux has a team-best four goals this season, just two off his career-high and the most he has scored since the 2007 season (5). He has also shown a tendency to show up when it counts as half of his scores are game-winners, including a 106th minute strike to fell defending Big West champion UC Irvine in the Aggies’'conference opener.
Barrerra and Nonni or Vice Versa
While UC Santa Barbara has plenty of offensive options, Danny Barrera and Michael Nonni have shown they are among the most dangerous in the star-studded lineup. Nonni is among the nation’s top scorers as his1.44 points per game (16 pts. in 10 matches) ranks 30th in the country. He also ranks 22nd in the NCAA in assists per outing as his Big West leading six assists in 10 matches gives him 0.60 per contest. Not to be outdone, Barrera is second in the Big West in points (11), tied for seventh in goals (3) and second in assists (5). He has already surpassed his 2008 totals in goals and points and has equaled his assist output from last season.
UC Irvine Looks to Buck the Trend
The calendar turning to October has brought about familar results for the UC Irvine men’s soccer club. Since 2004, the Anteaters have posted a 2-6-2 record in its first two conference matches in the month of October. The only year UCI came away unscathed in its first two league matches of the month was 2005 when it beat UC Riverside and Cal Poly. In order to reverse that trend, the ‘Eaters will have to defeat one of their biggest antagonizers during that time frame in Cal State Northridge. The two clubs have met three times since 2004 in the early stages of conference play in October, with CSUN posting a 2-0-1 record.
CSF Performs Well in Non-Conference
Despite dropping its final non-conference match of 2009 last week, Cal State Fullerton has continued to put up positive results in non-conference play over the past several seasons. The Titans went 4-4-1 against non-league foes this season, marking the third time in the last four years that the club has posted a .500 or better record against non-Big West opposition.
Big West Live to Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events. Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind. Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the “color” of Big West events.