The 12th annual Big West Men’s Soccer Tournament enters the semifinal round on Saturday with the top two seeds hoping to defend their home field advantage. As a reward for finishing in the top two in the final Big West regular season standings, No. 1 seed UC Davis and No. 2 seed UC Santa Barbara earned first round byes and have rested for a week since their last game.

The Aggies host No. 5 seed Cal State Fullerton at 2:00 p.m., while the Gauchos welcome No. 6 seed CSUN at 7:00 p.m. Both the Titans and Matadors won their first round tournament contests on Wednesday at Cal Poly and UC Irvine, respectively.

The championship match will take place on either Friday, November 15 or Saturday, November 16 at the site of the highest remaining seed. If UC Davis is the host, the game will be played on Friday. If CSUN or UCSB host, the game will take place on Saturday.

Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis have previously met four times in the Big West Tournament. The Aggies won the first meeting back in 2012, a 2-0 decision in the semifinals. Since then, the Titans have triumphed on three straight occasions – twice on penalty kicks. CSF won at UC Davis in the 2014 first round (2-1 in regulation), then knocked the Aggies out in penalty kicks (5-3) in the 2016 first round at Titan Stadium. The most recent meeting took place in the 2017 finals at Aggie Soccer Stadium, with the Titans winning another PK shootout (4-3) to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

CSUN and UCSB have played two times in the tourney and are 1-1 head-to-head. The Matadors upended the Gauchos in the 2013 semifinals (3-2) at Harder Stadium. UCSB was a 1-0 victor in the 2009 semis, also at Harder. UCSB is 1-5-1 in its last seven tournament home games since 2013.

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). 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 tourmament. 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 34-13-7. 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.

• Cal State Fullerton’s Paul-Andre Guerin ranks No. 1 in goalie minutes played (1779:34), UC Irvine’s Ford Parker is No. 3 (1720:42) and UC Santa Barbara’s Ben Roach is No. 4 (1719:06).
• UC Davis goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley ranks No. 10 nationally with an .817 save percentage.
• CSUN’s Daniel Trejo is No. 4 in shot accuracy (.654), with 36 of his 54 shots on goal.
• Roach is tied for No. 4 nationally with nine shutouts.
• Rubio is tied for No. 5 nationally in total assists (9).
• Guerin is No. 4 in total saves (84).
• UC Davis ranks No. 10 in team save percentage (.818).
• CSUN ranks No. 10 with 38 total assists.

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 15-3-4 in the Big West Tournament.

Overtime Opera
Forty-seven games have been played in the history of the Big West Tournament, and 15 of those have gone to overtime.

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).