Big West men's soccer fans will no longer have to wait for the start of the 2009 season as the conference kicks off its 18th campaign Tuesday night with a five-game schedule. All seven of the league's clubs will then be in action over the holiday weekend, highlighted by preseason favorite #14 UC Santa Barbara traveling to Morgantown, W.V., for a tournament hosted by Big East member West Virginia. Defending regular season and tournament champion #14 UC Irvine will begin its title defense with a road game at Santa Clara Tuesday, then host the UCI College Classic Saturday and Monday.
AROUND THE BIG WEST
Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg - UCSB
Entering 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 eight more victories, Vom Steeg will be the all-time winningest coach in conference lore, passing former Fresno State manager Jose Elgorriaga's total of 126 wins. Vom Steeg is already the Big West career leader in conference triumphs, coming into 2009 with 59 wins against Big West foes.
Youth Movement
The Big West lost a boatload of talent to graduation and the professional ranks as just 10 of the 27 first and second team all-stars return to the pitch in '09, but the league has plenty of young stars ready to step into the spotlight. Among the slew of talented returnees is Patrick Sigler of Cal Poly, UC Irvine's Spencer Thompson and Amani Walker, Cal State Fullerton's Celso Alvarez, Cal State Northridge's Sunghyun Kim, UC Davis' Ryan McCowan, UC Riverside's David Lozano and UC Santa Barbara's Danny Barrera and Luis Silva. These players and plenty others will have ample chance to win Big West awards as for the first time since men's soccer was reinstated in 2001, there are no major award winners returning to the pitch outside of the freshmen of the year.
Central Coast Matches Among Best Attended
The league's Central Coast clubs satisfied the region’s passion for soccer as record crowds flocked to Cal Poly's Spanos Stadium and UC Santa Barbara's Harder Stadium in 2008. The Gauchos led the NCAA in average home attendance with an average of 3,444 over 11 matches, while the Mustangs were third overall with an average of 2,839 over nine home dates. The mind boggling numbers didn’t stop there as UCSB ranked second in the country in total attendance with 37,886, while Cal Poly wasn't too far off in sixth with 25,549. Finally, the two teams also have a tendency to bring in big crowds when they face each other. The matchup last October 17 in Spanos Stadium drew a capacity crowd of 11,075, the largest crowd to watch a soccer match in the NCAA last season and the second-most fans to watch an on-campus regular season collegiate men’s soccer match in NCAA history. Not to be outdone, the rematch at Harder was played in front of 9,749 fans, the second-largest crowd in the NCAA last season and third-largest regular season on-campus crowd in NCAA history.
Big West Best Kept Secret
Solid, steady and unspectacular might be the best way to describe Cal State Northridge's Sunghyun Kim, a three-year under the radar star for head coach Terry Davila. Kim has amassed 15 goals and 12 assists for 42 points over his 57-game Matador career, with 53 of those contests having him in the starting 11. His consistency may be unnoticed on a national scale, but it has not been lost on the Big West coaches. Kim is the lone senior in the league to have collected All-Big West honors in each of his three previous seasons. Kim was named second team All-Conference after his freshman season in '06, honorable mention after his '07 sophomore campaign and a first teamer following his stellar junior campaign a year ago. Expect more of the same in the Valley from the Seoul, South Korea native in his final season in a Matador uniform.
Big West Titles
The Big West title has been a monopoly of sorts in since men's soccer was reinstated in 2001 as two clubs, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge, have combined to take seven of the eight titles. Change is already in the air as league rivals Cal Poly, UC Davis and UC Irvine have been knocking on the door of the traditional conference powers. UCI has already broken through the door as the Anteaters are the defending regular season and Big West Tournament champions. CP and UCD are also on the cusp as the Mustangs have won 22 games and earned an NCAA berth in the past two seasons, while the Aggies have won 25 games and notched two NCAA berths in their first two seasons of Division I play.
Smile for the Camera
Two Big West men's soccer contests will be on the national airwaves this season, both involving UC Santa Barbara and Harder Stadium. The first contest is September 11 when the Gauchos take on Rutgers out of the Big East Conference. The second contest will be on October 2, a matchup against perennial national power Indiana as part of the Santa Barbara Challenge Cup. The match is taking place five years after UCSB and IU met in the national championship match at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., a match won by the Hoosiers via penalty kicks.
Cal Poly's Sigler Reaps Preseason Praise
Cal Poly sophomore defender Patrick Sigler is garnering national acclaim heading into the 2009 season. First the second-year player was named a third team preseason All-America by College Soccer News, but the top accolade was his inclusion to the watch list for the 2009 Hermann Trophy, the award given by the Missouri Athletic Club honoring the player of the year in Division I men's soccer.
College Soccer News Releases Freshman Watch List
College Soccer News released its annual list of 100 freshman to keep an eye on this summer and five Big West rookies made the list. UC Santa Barbara has three of the players in Robbie Boyd, Robert Hoyle and Christian Ramirez. Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge had one apiece as Mustang rookie Chris Gaschen and Matador frosh Luis Gil were a part of the list.
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.