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NCAA Release
INDIANAPOLIS -- The 48-team field for the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship was announced on Monday, and Big West champion UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara will represent The Big West in the national tournament. It is the first time since 2019 that the league has had multiple teams vying for the NCAA title. Coincidentally that year it was also the Aggies and Gauchos in the national championship.
UC Davis (10-5-6) earned the conference’s automatic bid by winning the 2024 Big West Championship and will play at San Diego (13-2-2) in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. The winner of the match will head east to face No. 7 Duke (11-3-4) on Sunday, Nov. 24 in the round-of-32.
The Aggies are currently on a seven-match unbeaten streak, including their last three games in the 2024 Big West Men's Championship, defeating Cal State Bakersfield 2-1 at home in the first round, advancing past Cal Poly in the semifinals on penalty kicks and shutting out UC Santa Barbara in the final match 2-0. UC Davis is led by All-Big West First Team honoree and Championship MVP
Cason Goodman who has 11 goals and three assists on the season.
San Diego won the West Coast Conference’s automatic bid with a 7-1 league record. The Torero duo of Samy Kanaan and Cesar Bahena have accumulated nine and seven goals on the year.
It is the fourth time in UC Davis program history going to the NCAA Championship. The Aggies are 1-3 in the national tournament.
UC Santa Barbara (11-5-4) received an at-large bid and will play at UCLA (7-5-6) in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 21 with a 7 p.m. kickoff time. The winner of the match will play at No. 16 seed Stanford (9-5-4) on Sunday, Nov. 24 in the round-of-32.
The Gauchos put together a good resume, going 6-2-1 in non-conference with signature wins over the likes of Missouri State and Kansas City, who also NCAA tournament bound. UCSB finished second in conference play with a 4-2-3 mark and made it to the final match of the 2024 Big West Championship before falling to UC Davis. Big West Offensive Player of the Year
Alexis Ledoux leads the Gauchos, tallying 14 goals and five assists this season. The UCSB defense, led by goalkeeper
David Mitzner, has six shutouts on the season.
UCLA is also an at-large berth winner with a 3-4-3 record in the Big Ten. The Bruins have two six-goal scorers in Edrey Caceres and Jose Contell, with Philip Naef dishing out 10 assists on the season.
UC Santa Barbara is making an appearance in the NCAA Championship for the 15th time in program history. The Gauchos are 21-12-2 in the national tournament.
The Men's College Cup is scheduled for Dec. 13-16 at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.