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What 2 Watch 4
Three Big West teams, UC Irvine (1-0), Cal State Fullerton (1-0-1) and CSUN (1-0-1), will begin week two of the 2025 NCAA men's soccer season without a loss.
On Thursday, Aug. 29, five Big West teams will be in action, highlighted by Cal State Fullerton's matchup at UCLA. The Bruins, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, fell to UC Irvine in their season opener.
The other four games on the day are Cal State LA at UC Irvine, Sacramento State at GCU, North Florida at UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis at Washington. Cal State Bakersfield hosts San Jose State in the lone match on Friday.
Cal Poly will travel to future Big West foe California Baptist on Saturday. The day will also see two non-Division I matches as CSUN and UC Santa Barbara welcome Biola and Westmont, respectively.
Two ranked matches in the Bay highlight the schedule on Sunday, Aug. 31 with UC San Diego at No. 17 Cal and UC Davis at No. 4 Stanford. The other two games on Sunday are North Florida at UC Irvine and Santa Clara at Sacramento State. Cal State Bakersfield takes a road trip to San Francisco and UC Riverside faces Air Force at home for Labor Day Monday.
A total of 13 matches are set to air live on ESPN+ this week. Please check the listings online to watch your favorite Big West squad in action!
2025 Big West Men's Soccer Schedule
Poll Position
UC Irvine is receiving votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches National Rankings on Aug. 26.
Five Big West teams are featured in the latest Far West Region Rankings. UC Irvine is ranked No. 1. CSUN and Cal State Fullerton occupy the fourth and fifth slots, respectively. UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly come in at ninth and 10th, respectively.
United Soccer Coaches Rankings
Opening Week Recap
UC Irvine had arguably the conference’s biggest win on Opening Day, taking down UCLA, an NCAA Tournament team a year ago, by a score of 2-0. Isaac Powell and Nolan DiCenzo each scored a goal in the second half to put the Bruins away.
CSUN and Cal State Fullerton each went 1-0-1 in Oklahoma to begin the season. The Matador defense, led by goalkeeper Dorian Drucks did not allow a goal in two matches with a 0-0 draw to Tulsa, Thursday, and a 1-0 win over Oral Roberts, Sunday. Zack Harris was responsible for the CSUN goal.
Down 2-0 against Oral Roberts on Thursday, the Titans put away two goals in the second half from Jonathan Grado and Alex Lugo to salvage a 2-2 tie. Cal State Fullerton defeated Tulsa 1-0 on Sunday, thanks to Fitz Williams’ banger.
UC Santa Barbara downed Central Arkansas 2-1 at home on Monday. Buba Fofanah scored the first goal of the match and Zac Siebenlist closed it out with a 64th-minute game-winner.
Hermann Trophy Watchlist
The Big West had three players named to the first iteration of the Hermann Trophy watchlist on Aug. 21. The Cal Poly duo of goalkeeper Nicky McCune and defender Parker Owen, and UC Davis striker Cason Goodman were the representatives from The Big West that made the list.
The Hermann Trophy is the nation’s highest individual honor in collegiate men’s soccer, recognizing the National Player of the Year as determined by voting of Division I head coaches annually.
Top Drawer Soccer Player Rankings
Five Big West players are featured in the TopDrawerSoccer’s National Top 100 Players rankings. Cal Poly’s Nicky McCune is rated 10th and is the highest ranked goalkeeper in the nation. Cal Poly defender Parker Owens comes in at No. 37, followed by Sacramento State forward Donovan Sessoms at No. 63, UC Davis forward Cason Goodman at No. 69 and UC Santa Barbara defender Calle Mollerberg at No. 96.
McCune was placed on TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Best XI Teams, garnering First Team honors.
Big West Men's Soccer on ESPNU
The Big West will be part of the ESPN’s robust linear men’s soccer coverage this fall. On Wednesday, Oct. 1, the UC Davis at Cal Poly men’s soccer contest will be broadcasted on ESPNU with kickoff set for 7 p.m. PT.
The Big West conference opener for both sides will be a rematch of the thrilling 2024 Big West Championship semifinal that was decided on penalty kicks last fall. The No. 4 seed Aggies upended the top-seeded regular-season champion Mustangs 5-4 in penalty kicks in front of a crowd of 1,582 at Mustang Memorial Field.
Preseason Prognostications
UC Santa Barbara is favored to win The Big West according to the 2025 Big West Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
The Gauchos (12-5-5, 4-2-3 BW) earned three first-place votes for a total of 73 points. Last season, UC Santa Barbara finished second in the regular season standings, got to The Big West Championship final, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The coaches also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West Team, and one Gaucho was featured on it in sophomore defender Calle Mollerberg. Last season, Mollerberg played in 20 games, making 18 starts, and played a full match on 14 occasions, earning All-Big West Second Team and Freshman Team honors. UCSB sported a 1.08 goals-against average with Mollerberg in the backline.
Defending regular season champion Cal Poly (7-4-8, 4-1-4 BW) was picked to finish second, claiming three first-place votes for 71 points. The Mustangs earned four spots on the preseason squad in junior midfielder Diego Guerra, sophomore forward Quinn Mahoney, junior goalkeeper Nicky McCune and junior defender Parker Owens. Mahoney, the reigning Big West Freshman of the Year and Second Team honoree, was the offensive catalyst for last season’s Mustangs with four goals and six assists for 14 points. Guerra earned All-Big West First Team distinction last season with three goals and one assist for seven points. The 2024 Cal Poly defense, led by McCune and Owens, sported a goals-against average of 0.68, with nine shutouts on the year. The goaltending was even better in league play, with a 0.44 opponents’ scoring average with five clean sheets. McCune tallied 60 saves and Owens provided one goal and three assists from the back line during the regular season. Last season, Owens and McCune were both All-Big West First Team selections and collected Defensive Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards, respectively.
UC Davis (10-6-6, 4-3-2 BW) received the remaining four first-place votes for 69 points to come in third in the poll. The Aggies, the winners of last year’s Big West Championship, took two slots on the preseason team with senior forward Cason Goodman and senior midfielder Zack Lillington. Goodman is a two-time All-Big West awardee, including First Team status last season with 11 goals and three assists for 25 points. Lillington recorded one goal and four assists to earn a spot on the All-Big West Second Team in 2024.
UC Irvine (8-8-3, 4-3-2 BW) came in fourth in the poll with 57 points and had two preseason squad selections in senior midfielder Agaton Pourshahidi and junior defender Brady Treinen. Pourshahidi recorded seven goals and two assists for 16 points last year and earned a spot on the All-Big West First Team. Treinen was an All-Big West Second Team honoree with five assist and led a backline that held opponents to 1.26 goals per game.
Cal State Fullerton (45), Cal State Bakersfield (37), CSUN (31), UC Riverside (24), UC San Diego (22) and Sacramento State (21) round out the rest of the poll. Cal State Bakersfield junior defender Luka Geishauser and Sacramento State junior forward Donovan Sessoms fill out the preseason team. Geishauser played all but nine minutes last season, logging 1,521 minutes and anchoring the Roadrunner backline to a 1.24 goals-against average, en route to All-Big West First Team honors. In 2024, Sessoms scored 10 goals, seven in conference play, to earn All-Big West First Team membership. At the end of the year, Sessoms was selected in the third round, 61st overall, in the 2024 MLS Draft but decided to forgo the opportunity and return to Sacramento State.
2024 Postseason Rewind
The 2024 Big West men’s soccer season saw Cal Poly (7-4-8) win the regular season title with a 4-1-4 league record and earn the top seed in the conference championship.
No. 4 seed UC Davis (10-6-6, 4-3-2 BW) won The Big West Championship for the second time in program history with a 2-1 victory in the first round over No. 5 seed Cal State Bakersfield, a 5-4 penalty kick advantage against No. 1 seed Cal Poly in the semifinals and a 2-0 victory in the championship game over No. 2 UC Santa Barbara. With two goals scored in the match, Cason Goodman was named the Championship MVP.
The Big West had two teams qualify for the NCAA Tournament in UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos advanced to the second round, defeating UCLA in the opening game of the national tournament. UC Davis fell in the first round against San Diego.
From The Big West to the MLS
In December 2024, The Big West had two standouts selected in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. UC Santa Barbara freshman midfielder Manu Duah was selected with the first overall pick to San Diego FC. Sacramento State sophomore forward Donovan Sessoms was drafted with the first pick of the third round, 61st overall, also by San Diego FC. The draftees were the 56th and 57th Big West men’s soccer players, respectively, to be picked in the history of the MLS SuperDraft. Sessoms decided to decline the opportunity to play in the MLS and return to Sacramento State.
In July, UC Davis alum Maximilian Arfsten and UC Santa Barbara alum Michael Boxall were named to the 2025 MLS All-Star Team.
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