UC Santa Barbara continued its strong run through the postseason, ready for the program’s third all-time appearance in the NCAA Men’s Soccer Tournament Elite Eight.

The Gauchos snapped Indiana’s 38-match home unbeaten streak on Sunday with a 1-0 victory in double overtime, courtesy of senior forward Will Baynham’s Big West-leading 10th goal of the season in the 102nd minute. UCSB, which had lost in the third round in its four previous appearances (2007, 2009, 2011, 2015), improved to 3-5 all-time in the Sweet 16.

UCSB has outscored its three NCAA opponents by a combined 8-1 margin, knocking off California (3-1) at home before shutting out No. 12 seed Saint Mary’s (4-0) on the road and handing No. 5 seed Indiana the rare home defeat.

The Gauchos remain on the road for a third straight game, taking on fourth-seeded Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (PT). The contest will be televised on the ACC Network Extra.

The two previous Elite 8 appearances have resulted in UCSB victories and berths in the NCAA College Cup. However, both of those opportunities took place at home in Harder Stadium. The Gauchos defeated Virginia Commonwealth (4-1) in 2004 and Northwestern in 2006 (3-2).  

UCSB and Wake Forest have met on one prior occasion in the NCAA Tournament, at the College Cup in 2006. The Gauchos and Demon Deacons played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer in the semifinals before UCSB prevailed 4-3 in penalty kicks. UCSB went on to defeat UCLA in the finals to wrap up its first and only national title in St. Louis, Mo.

The two squads played one more time in 2008. Wake Forest earned a 6-2 victory over UCSB at Harder Stadium.

UCSB is on the same side of the bracket as top-seeded Virginia and No. 8 seed SMU. With a win over Wake Forest, the Gauchos would face the winner of that quarterfinal on Friday, December 13 at Sahlen’s Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C in one of two College Cup semis.

UC Santa Barbara has spent 10 consecutive weeks in the Top Drawer Soccer top 25 poll, vaulting 17 spots over the last two weeks to No. 5 in the country. The No. 5 ranking is the highest for the program since being slotted at No. 4 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll on October 2, 2012.

THROW INS

Road Turnaround
UC Santa Barbara improved to 7-1-3 in road games this season after defeating Indiana in the NCAA Tournament Third Round. The only away setback for the Gauchos this season came in the Big West Tournament championship game to UC Davis. This year’s road success contrasts sharply with UCSB’s struggles in 2018 when the team managed just a 1-6-1 record on enemy pitches. UCSB is 6-8-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament road games.

Winning
UCSB is 15-4-4 on the year, achieving the program’s highest win total since the 2011 squad finished 15-7-1. The last Big West team to reach the 16-win mark was UC Irvine, which finished 16-6-3 in 2014.
 
All-Conference Action
UCSB cleaned up when the Big West’s all-conference team was announced on Nov. 12. The Gauchos posted five of the 13 first-team selections – and their eight selections overall across the four teams (first, second, honorable mention, all-freshman) were the most since 2016 (nine). UCSB earned three major awards with Noah Billingsley (Defensive Player of the Year), Thibault Candia (Co-Midfielder of the Year) and Finn Ballard McBride (Freshman of the Year).

Roach Ranked On Big West Top 10 Shutouts List
UC Santa Barbara sophomore goalkeeper Ben Roach is tied for No. 2 nationally this season with 12 shutouts. The 12 clean sheets are tied for No. 4 in Big West single-season history with three others, including current UCSB volunteer goalkeeper coach David Elias, who blanked a dozen opponents in 2015 with Cal State Fullerton, and former Gaucho netminder Kyle Reynish, the starter on UCSB’s national championship squad in 2006. Roach also has played every minute in goal for a total of 2,182 minutes and 19 seconds, which puts him No. 5 on the league’s single-season minutes list.

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 40-16-7. 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 Will Baynham is tied for No. 4 nationally with six game-winning goals.
• UC Santa Barbara’s Ben Roach ranks No. 1 in goalie minutes played (2182:19).
• UC Davis goalkeeper Wallis Lapsley is No. 8 in goals against average (.635).
• Lapsley is No. 10 in save percentage (.806).
• CSUN’s Daniel Trejo is tied for No. 2 in shot accuracy (.667), with 38 of his 57 shots on goal.
• UC Davis forward Kristian Heptner is tied for No. 8 in shot accuracy (.591), with 26 of his 44 shots on goal.
• Trejo is No. 10 in shots on goal per game (2.00).
• Roach is No. 2 nationally with 12 shutouts while Lapsley is tied for No. 10 with nine.
• CSUN’s Julio Rubio is tied for No. 10 with nine assists.
• Cal State Fullerton goalkeeper Paul-Andre Guerin is tied for No. 2 in total saves (94).
• UC Davis ranks No. 7 in team goals against average (.630) and No. 9 in save percentage (.814).
• UC Santa Barbara is tied for ninth in total goals (45), and tied for No. 8 in total points (131).

History Lesson
The Big West Tournament has produced champions from six different schools in its 12-year history. UC Davis earned its first tournament title this season.

Total Big West Tournament Titles

Cal State Fullerton	2014, 2015, 2017
CSUN	2012, 2016
UC Davis	2019
UC Irvine	2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
UC Riverside	2018
UC Santa Barbara	2010

Against The Seeds
UCSB is no stranger to facing national seeds in the NCAA Tournament. Sixteen of the program’s 33 NCAA games have been against a top 16 seeded team. The Gauchos are 7-7-2 all-time in those games. UCSB faced No. 12 seed Saint Mary’s in the second round and No. 5 seed Indiana in the third round matchup. Next on the list in the NCAA Quarterfinals is No. 4 seed Wake Forest.
 

Year	Round	Opponent	Seed	Result
2003	Sweet 16	St. John’s	6	L, 2-3 (2OT)
2004	Sweet 16	UNC Greensboro	8	W, 1-0 (OT)
	Elite 8	Virginia Commonwealth	16	W, 4-1
	Finals	Indiana	2	T, 1-1 (2OT) (IU, 3-2 PK)
2005	Second	CSUN	15	L, 2-3
2006	Second	SMU	3	W, 3-1
	Semis	Wake Forest	2	T, 0-0 (2OT) (UCSB, 4-3 PK)
	Finals	UCLA	8	W, 2-1
2007	Sweet 16	Ohio State	5	L, 3-4 (2OT)
2009	Second	San Diego	11	W, 1-0
	Sweet 16	UCLA	6	L, 1-2
2010	Second	California	6	L, 1-2 (OT)
2011	Sweet 16	Creighton	2	L, 1-2
2015	Sweet 16	Clemson	2	L, 2-3
2019	Second	Saint Mary's	12	W, 4-0
	Sweet 16	Indiana	5	W, 1-0 (2OT)