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What 2 Watch 4
The final week of non-conference play will feature 13 games Wednesday, Sept. 20 through Sunday, Sept. 24.
Two matchups will be featured on Wednesday as Cal Poly travels to Gonzaga and UC San Diego visits crosstown rival University of San Diego. Thursday will see CSUN at No. 5 Portland, the only ranked matchup in The Big West this week, Cal State Fullerton at Loyola Marymount and Cal State Bakersfield at Santa Clara. On Friday, Sacramento State hosts San Jose State.
In a stacked Saturday slate, UC Irvine is home against UCLA, UC San Diego welcomes Utah Tech, UC Riverside hosts California Baptist for Inland Empire bragging rights and UC Santa Barbara battles Cal Poly in a non-conference edition of the greatest rivalry in college soccer (more info below). Sunday will see San Jose State at UC Davis, CSUN at Santa Clara and San Diego at Cal State Fullerton.
All 13 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.
The Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer
The men’s soccer matchup between Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara has been called the single greatest rivalry in college soccer. The crowds of these games are record-setting and hold 18 of the top 25 largest NCAA men’s soccer crowds, excluding the postseason. The two teams meet twice every year, one as a non-conference matchup and one for league play. Last year’s editions drew crowds of 10,392 in San Luis Obispo and 7,535 in Santa Barbara.
Poll Position
Three Big West teams are featured in the latest United Soccer Coaches Far West Region Rankings. Cal State Fullerton jumps into the No. 6 spot after not being ranked in the previous edition. CSUN improved one place from No. 9 to 8 and UC Santa Barbara holds down the No. 10 slot for the second straight week.
Titans Score
Cal State Fullerton is currently on fire with a five-game unbeaten streak. After a 1-0 win against Incarnate Word, the Titans had a pair of 1-1 draws on the road at Gonzaga and at then-No. 25 Washington. They came back home to defeat Air Force, 2-1, and dominated UCLA 4-1. Midfielder Roberto Ordonez was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week and to Top Drawer Soccer’s Team of the Week with three goals and one assist against Air Force and UCLA. Cal State Fullerton is currently 13th in the nation in assists per game (2.50) and 22nd in points per game (6.50).
Runners on the Rise
Cal State Bakersfield is on a four-match win, five-game unbeaten streak. The Roadrunners have defeated the likes of San Francisco, Utah Tech and UNLV, all on the road by a score of 1-0, during the stretch. CSUB goalkeeper Brandon Limes tops the league in several different categories including goals-against average (0.571), save percentage (0.833) and shutouts (3).
Gaucho Goals
UC Santa Barbara knows how to put the ball in the net. The Gauchos have scored 16 goals so far this season, tied for first in the conference and 16th in the nation. Nemo Philipp leads UCSB with four goals and three assists, while Lucas Gonzalez has two goals and four assists. Mikkel Goeling and Alexis Ledoux also have two goals apiece.
Magical Matadors
CSUN has had a knack for dramatic finishes with late-game heroics this season. In the season opener at Ohio State, with an 11-on-10 disadvantage due to a red card, freshman Jorge Solorzano scored the game-tying goal on a free kick with 20 seconds remaining to come away with a draw.
At then-No. 12 San Diego, playing once again with a man disadvantage, Levin Gerhardt and Jamar Ricketts each found the back of the net in the 81st and 86th minutes, respectively, to come away with a 3-1 win. At UCLA, Solorzano got the game-tying score on a penalty kick in the 88th minute for a 1-1 tie. In a 3-1 win versus UNLV, Ricketts scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute.
Ricketts leads the league in points with nine on three goals and three assists. Solorzano is tied for first in goals with four.
Big West Goalies
Big West goalies are excelling with a number of names appearing in the national statistics top 25. UC Riverside’s Carlos Gonzalez, UC Davis’ Charles Janssen, Sacramento State’s Mac Learned, Cal State Bakersfield’s Brandon Limes, UC Irvine’s Luke Pruter, CSUN’s Cooper Wenzel and UC Santa Barbara’s Leroy Zeller are all tied for 24th in the nation in goalie minutes played at 630 minutes apiece.
Learned leads the nation in saves (49) and saves per game (7.00). Limes is 18th in goals-against average (0.571), 20th in save percentage (20th) and tied for 17th in shutouts (3). Pruter also has three shutouts and is one of the goalies tied with Limes. Wenzel is 11th in total saves with 34 on the season.
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.
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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