The 12th annual Big West Men’s Soccer Tournament begins on Wednesday with six teams battling to raise the trophy. The two first round matchups include No. 6 seed CSUN at No. 3 seed UC Irvine, and No. 5 seed Cal State Fullerton at No. 4 seed Cal Poly. Top two seeds UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara have earned automatic berths into this Saturday’s semifinals.

The Aggies will host the winner of the Titan-Mustang contest, while the Gauchos will welcome the winner of the Matador-Anteater clash. The championship match will take place on either Friday, November 15 or Saturday, November 16 at the site of the highest remaining seed.

CSUN and UC Irvine will meet for the second time in a five-day span when the two battle on the Anteater Stadium pitch. The Matadors sprung a 1-0 victory on the ‘Eaters that clinched a berth in the tournament while also denying UCI a share of the regular season title. The outcome also knocked the ‘Eaters from first to third place and kept them from claiming the coveted first round bye.

The matchup includes extra intrigue as CSUN head coach Terry Davila is on the opposite sideline of his former player and UCI mentor Yossi Raz. Raz played for Davila at CSUN from 2001-04. Davila is 4-0 against his former pupil since Raz took over the reins at UCI in 2017.

UCI and CSUN have met once in the Big West Tournament. The ‘Eaters defeated the Matadors in the 2013 finals.

Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton also have played just once before in the tournament. The Titans took down the Mustangs in the 2015 semifinals.

In 11 years of Big West Tournament competition, five different schools have emerged as champions. UCI leads the list with four titles, but none since 2013. CSF has won three titles. CSUN is next with two, while UC Santa Barbara (2010) and UC Riverside (2018) have one apiece.

Top seeded UC Davis is seeking its first tourney title after having reached the finals on three different occasions (2012, 2017, 2018). The semifinals represent the furthest Cal Poly has advanced. UCSB has been eliminated in its first tournament game in each of the last three seasons. Four of the last five championship games have gone to double overtime or penalty kicks.

UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara enter the Big West Tournament ranked in the top 25. The Aggies moved up six spots to a season-best No. 17 in the Soccer America poll this week, while breaking into the United Soccer Coaches rankings for the first time this season at No. 24. The Gauchos have been ranked for six straight weeks in both the Top Drawer Soccer and Soccer America polls. Their highest ranking is via United Soccer Coaches – a season-best No. 15 this week.

UC Davis captured its third Big West regular season title after claiming North Division titles in 2012 and 2017. The Aggies allowed just three goals in conference play to finish 5-1-1 for 16 points. UC Davis posted four shutouts in Big West play led by the core of goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley, and defenders Nabi Kibunguchy and Jake Haupt. Regular season champions have typically had a good shot at continuing the success in the conference tournament. Previous dual winners have occurred in 2008 (UC Irvine), 2011 (UC Irvine), 2012 (CSUN - South Division), 2013 (UC Irvine – South Division), 2015 (Cal State Fullerton – South Division), 2016 (CSUN – South Division) and 2017 (Cal State Fullerton – South Division). The lowest seed to win the Big West Tournament – divisional format or not – was UCI in 2009 and CSF in 2014 both as No. 3 seeds.

The NCAA’s fourth Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report for men’s soccer came out on Monday and the Big West landed all eight schools in the top 100 for the third straight week. UCSB stayed at No. 24 for the second straight week as the highest ranked Big West team. UC Davis has vaulted 24 spots in the last two weeks and is at a season-high No. 25. UCI (37) and CSF (40) are ranked high. CSUN (68), SAC (83), UCR (90) and CP (94) round out the rankings.

Perfect Ten
Three squads have reached the 10-win mark this season – Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. The trio sports a combined record of 33-13-7. UCSB’s 2-0 win against UC Riverside on Oct. 16 was the team’s 10th, representing the 19th time in the 21-year head coaching tenure of Tim Vom Steeg that his program has hit the mark. Dwayne Shaffer’s Aggies earned win No. 10 on Oct. 26 on a golden goal in overtime against CSF. It is the third straight year the UC Davis program has achieved double-digit wins. For the fifth time in six years with George Kuntz at the CSF helm, the Titans secured a 10-win season, achieving the feat with an Oct. 23 win against UCI.

In The National Rankings
Big West individuals and teams are ranked among in the top 10 in several NCAA categories.

• UC Santa Barbara’s Ben Roach ranks No. 1 in goalie minutes played (1719:06), Cal State Fullerton’s Paul-Andre Guerin is No. 3 (1689:34) and UC Irvine’s Ford Parker No. 7 (1630:42).
• UC Davis goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley ranks No. 10 nationally with an .817 save percentage.
• CSUN’s Daniel Trejo is No. 2 in shot accuracy (.654), with 34 of his 52 shots on goal.
• Roach is tied for No. 3 nationally with nine shutouts.
• Rubio is tied for No. 4 nationally in total assists (9).
• Guerin is tied for No. 4 in total saves (81).

The Kuntz Factor
No head coach has experienced more success in a Big West Tournament setting than George Kuntz. Between stints at UCI and CSF, Kuntz has won seven of the 10 tournament titles. His teams at UCI won in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2013. Once he grabbed the reins at fellow Orange County side CSF, Kuntz guided the Titans to the tourney championship in 2014, 2015 and 2017. He owns an all-time record of 14-3-4 in the Big West Tournament.

Overtime Opera
Forty-five games have been played in the history of the Big West Tournament, and 15 of those have gone to overtime. UCI is the most seasoned Big West squad this season in terms of OT experience. The Anteaters have played in eight overtime games, going 2-1-5 overall.

Close Calls
CSF has played in 11 one-goal games this season and is 8-3 in those. UC Davis is 6-3 in games decided by one goal and UCSB is 4-1.

Top Drawer Soccer Releases Midseason Lists
Top Drawer Soccer released its Midseason Top 100 Freshmen and Upperclassmen lists and the Big West was well represented. Among the nation’s freshmen, UC Santa Barbara’s Finn Ballard McBride appeared at No. 6 on the list. Cal State Fullerton’s Sebastian Cruz was ranked No. 30, CSUN’s Samuel Salter No. 35, and the UC Irvine duo of Kwabena Boateng and Roberto Molina No. 62 and No. 76, respectively. The TDS Upperclassmen list includes sophomores, juniors and seniors. Big West representatives included junior Rodney Michael of UCSB at No. 9, CSUN junior Daniel Trejo (No. 48), UC Davis junior Nabi Kibunguchy (No. 55) and Cal State Fullerton junior Christian Pinzon (No. 86).