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What 2 Watch 4
Week two of the 2023 men’s soccer season will feature 18 games Thursday through Labor Day Monday.
Cal State Fullerton, Sacramento State, UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Riverside will play Thursday and Sunday, while UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly and CSUN will play Friday and Monday. Cal State Bakersfield and UC Davis have one game apiece this week, both in action on Sunday.
There are three contests against ranked opponents on the schedule. On Friday, UC Santa Barbara travels to No. 6 Portland. No. 12 San Diego hosts CSUN (Friday) and Cal Poly (Monday).
A total of 14 contests are set to air on ESPN+, The Big West’s exclusive broadcast rights holder. Check the listings here to watch your favorite Big West teams in action.
GoAgs
After going 2-0 with wins against Dayton and at Ohio State to start the season, UC Davis is receiving votes in the latest national rankings by the United Soccer Coaches. The Aggies also swept The Big West weekly honors with Cason Goodman (two goals) winning Offensive Player of the Week, Charles Janssen (10 saves, one shutout) earning Defensive Player of the Week and Tristan Wouters (one goal) claiming Freshman of the Week.
Titans Score Galore
Cal State Fullerton got its season underway on fire, scoring six goals to down Mercer in a neutral-site contest. It is tied for the second most goals scored in a game this season.
Eaters Defend
The UC Irvine defense is holding up and has yet to allow a goal this season, compiling two shutouts against UNLV and No. 8 Creighton. Anteater goalkeeper Luke Pruter and defender Mathias Winum have played every minute of the season so far.
Preseason Prognostications
UC Santa Barbara is favored to win The Big West according to the 2023 Big West Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
The Gauchos (10-4-6, 4-1-4 BW) earned three first-place votes for a total of 72 points. Last year, UC Santa Barbara tied for second in the regular season standings and was the runner-up at The Big West Championship.
The coaches also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West squad. Three Gauchos were featured on the preseason team in junior midfielder Lucas Gonzalez, junior forward Alexis Ledoux and senior goalkeeper Leroy Zeller. Last season, Gonzalez tallied two goals and six assists en route to an All-Big West Second Team selection, while Ledoux compiled one goal and three assists. Zeller, a First Team honoree last season and the reigning Co-Goalkeeper of the Year, played in 20 games and sported a 0.99 goals-against average.
Defending Big West double champion UC Riverside (8-8-4, 5-2-2 BW) was picked to finish second after earning four first-place votes, the most of any team, for 69 points and senior defender Brendan Clark earned a spot on the preseason team. Clark totaled seven goals and seven assists from the back line and was an All-Big West First Team selection last year.
CSUN (9-6-4, 5-3-1 BW) received two first-place votes totaling 63 points to come in third. Matador junior forward Jamar Ricketts was placed on the preseason team after earning All-Big West first team honors with five goals and three assists in 2022.
One point shy of the Matadors was UC Irvine (6-12-2, 5-3-1 BW) with 62 points and one first-place vote. The Anteaters were represented on the preseason team by senior defender Eddy Berumen and junior midfielder Francesco Montanile. Berumen compiled three assists and Montanile recorded two goals and four assists last season.
Sacramento State (9-8-2, 4-5 BW) and UC Davis (5-9-4, 4-3-2) tied for fifth in the preseason poll with 42 points apiece and each had one representative on the preseason squad. Hornet senior forward Austin Wehner was a 2022 All-Big West First Team honoree with four goals and three assists. Aggie senior forward Ethan Hoard was an honorable mention selection with three goals and two assists last year.
Cal State Fullerton (38), UC San Diego (33), Cal Poly (20) and Cal State Bakersfield (9) finish the rest of the poll.
Cal State Fullerton junior defender Giovanni Calderon and UC San Diego senior midfielder Alessandro Allen round out the preseason team. In 2022, Calderon recorded one goal and one assist for an All-Big West Honorable Mention distinction, and Allen had four assists to earn a spot on the Second Team.
2022 Rewind
The 2022 season saw UC Riverside (8-8-4, 5-2-2 BW) win both The Big West regular season and Championship titles.
In the final week of the regular season, the Highlanders trounced UC Santa Barbara at home by a score of 4-1 for the title and secured a No. 1 seed in The Big West Championship.
UC Riverside bounced No. 4 seed CSUN 4-1 in the semifinals and got the best of No. 2 seed Gauchos 1-0 in the finals in front of a packed house to earn its second Big West Championship title in program history. Highlander goalkeeper Carlos Gonazlez was named the Tournament MVP.
National Attention
Three Big West players are featured in the TopDrawerSoccer’s National Top 100 Players rankings. UC Riverside defender Brendan Clark tops The Big West at No. 70, followed by UC Santa Barbara goalie Leroy Zeller at No. 75. CSUN forward Jamar Ricketts is ranked No. 90.
In addition to those three, UC Irvine defender Eddy Berumen and Sacramento State forward Austin Wehner made the Top Players to Watch list in TopDrawerSoccer’s Big West preview.
Additionally, Brady Treinen (UC Irvine), Cyrus Neghabat (Cal Poly), Simon Vaca-Lorenzi (Sacramento State), Kaden Standish (UC Santa Barbara) and Jackson D’Alessandro (UC Riverside) were named as Top Freshman to Watch by TopDrawerSoccer.
Arfsten Drafted
In December 2022, former UC Davis forward Maximilian Arfsten was selected in the first round, 14th overall, by the Columbus Crew in the 2023 Major League Soccer SuperDraft.
Arfsten tallied nine goals and eight assists in two seasons (39 games) as an Aggie. The forward had a breakout season in 2021, compiling eight goals, including a hat trick against San Francisco, and seven assists and was subsequently named to the All-Big West First Team and earned Offensive Player of the Year honors. The Fresno, Calif. product was a 2019 Big West All-Freshman Team performer with one goal and one assist.
Arfsten played the 2022 season for the San Jose Earthquakes II, logging minutes in 24 games with 21 starts. The former Aggie was second on the team with nine goals and led the team with six assists, and had two multi-score games including two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win over Minnesota in the last match of the MLS Next fall season.
Arfsten becomes the 52nd standout from The Big West to be taken in the MLS SuperDraft, and 14th first-round selection. The UC Davis program has now produced four draft picks in the last five years, three of them being in the first round.
The Big West in the World Cup
UC Riverside alum Aaron Long played in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as a member of the 26-player United States men’s national soccer team (USMNT).
Long played in a total of 71 matches in four years (2010-13) at UC Riverside, primarily as a midfielder, accumulating 13 goals and five assists. The Oak Hills, Calif. native was a two-time All-Big West honoree.
Long was drafted in the second round, 36th overall, in the 2014 MLS SuperDraft by the Portland Timbers. After bouncing between MLS and USL for seven clubs, Long was a mainstay on the back line for the New York Red Bulls from 2017-2022. The former Highlander was the 2018 MLS Defender of the Year and has been named MLS All-Star twice (2018, 2022). Long returned home to SoCal in 2023 and currently plays for Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC).
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