2007 Big West Men's Soccer

2007 BIG WEST MEN’S SOCCER Big West Conference - 2 Corporate Park, Suite 206, Irvine, CA 92606 Information Staff: Chris Hargraves (Assistant Information Director) For more information - Phone: (949) 261-2525 Fax: (949) 261-2528 email: [email protected] Release #14 - Monday, December 3, 2007 2007 STANDINGS Conference Overall W L T Pct. Pts. Home Away W L T Pct. Home Away Ntrl. $*UC Santa Barbara 9 1 2 .833 29 4-0-2 5-1-0 13 4 4 .714 7-1-3 5-3-1 1-0-0 *UC Davis 7 3 2 .667 23 4-2-0 3-1-2 12 5 3 .675 5-2-1 4-3-2 3-0-0 Cal Poly 6 2 4 .667 22 5-0-1 1-2-3 11 4 4 .684 8-1-1 2-3-3 1-0-0 Cal State Northridge 3 5 4 .417 13 2-2-2 1-3-2 7 7 6 .500 4-3-2 2-3-3 1-1-1 UC Riverside 2 4 6 .417 12 1-3-2 1-1-4 5 6 8 .474 1-4-4 3-2-4 1-0-0 Cal State Fullerton 2 7 3 .292 9 0-4-2 2-3-1 7 10 3 .425 4-5-2 3-3-1 0-2-0 UC Irvine 1 8 3 .208 6 0-3-3 1-5-0 6 9 5 .425 5-3-3 1-5-1 0-1-1 $ - indicates clinched Big West Championship * - indicates NCAA Tournament team A Look Back at the 2007 Big West Men’s Soccer Season The eagerly anticipated 2007 Big West men’s soccer campaign didn’t disappoint as the league reached NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS new highs both in and out of conference. Friday, November 23 The conference went an impressive 31-15-9 against non-conference foes, which included a 3-5-4 mark !at California 2, UC Davis 1 (2OT) against teams ranked in any of the four major polls at the time of the match. The strength of the conference was evident on the national scale as six of the seven league schools were in the RPI top 100 entering the NCAA Wednesday, November 28 Tournament. UC Santa Barbara’s appearance in the Sweet 16 also marked the fifth straight season a Big West #at #12 UC Santa Barbara 1, Washington 0 school had reached the round of 16 in the national tournament. Conference play was especially fierce as five clubs recorded double-digit points in the first season of the Sunday, December 2 12-match league campaign. That’s the highest figure since 2003 when all six Big West clubs recorded double- $at #5 Ohio State 4, #12 UC Santa Barbara 3 (2OT) digit points. This also marks the first time that five schools recorded 12 or more points in conference play. UCSB’s 29 points surpassed the 2002 Gaucho club for the most in league history. It should be noted however, Tournament Key: that the 2002 mark came during the course of a 10-match conference schedule. ! - NCAA Tournament First Round match UC Santa Barbara entered the season with a bulls-eye on its back as the defending national champion, (Berkeley, Calif.) but the Gauchos’ play didn’t disappoint. UCSB won its fifth Big West title in seven seasons and was awarded # - NCAA Tournament Second Round match a #12 seed in the national tournament. The Gauchos reached the Sweet 16 before suffering an emotional loss (Santa Barbara, Calif.) in double overtime to fifth seed Ohio State on the road. Despite the disappointing finish, UC Santa Barbara $ - NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 (Columbus, Ohio) had plenty to be proud of as the Gauchos tied a league record with nine conference wins, won three major Big West awards, placed seven players on the All-Big West first team and set a league record for single-match Rankings indicates national seed attendance when 8,102 showed up to Harder Stadium for match against Cal Poly November 3. The surprise of the season came from a newbie as UC Davis completed its reclassification and became the ninth member of the Big West Conference. The Aggies, who were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team conference, far exceeded expectations with a 12-5-3 record and a 7-3-2 mark in Big West play. UCD was honored for its efforts with an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, an excellent accomplishment for a program in its inagural season of Division I play. To no one’s surprise, head coach Dwayne Shaffer was named the Big PRESEASON COACHES POLL West Coach of the Year. No. School Pts. Despite not receving an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, Cal Poly wrapped up a tremendous 1. UC Santa Barbara (6) 48 season which saw them go 6-2-4 in conference play and 11-4-4 overall. The conference and overall victories 2. Cal State Northridge (1) 43 are the most the Mustangs have registered as a member of the Big West, while the 11 overall triumphs tied the 3. Cal State Fullerton 26 program record for wins set in 1999. Cal Poly drew extremely well in the Central Coast region as an average 4. UC Irvine 24 5. Cal Poly 23 of 2,092 fans came out to support Mustang soccer. The high attendance of 7,143 against UC Santa Barbara 6. UC Davis 21 October 17 is the second-highest attendance figure in Big West history. 7. UC Riverside 11 ( ) First-place votes PLAYERS OF THE WEEK BIG WEST MEN’S SOCCER AWARDS 9/3 - Pat Barton, UC Irvine, Fr., GK 9/10 - Charles Alamo, UC Riverside, Sr., GK UC Santa Barbara Grabs Three of Six Big West Men’s Soccer Awards 9/17 - Sule Anibaba, UC Davis, Jr., MF League champion and defending national champion UC Santa Barbara’s outstanding regular season Ciaran O’Brien, UC Santa Barbara, So., MF on the field was magnified as the seventh-ranked Gauchos took home three of the six individual honors 9/24 - Matt Murphy, UC Irvine, Jr., MF from the Big West. 10/1 - Robert Pate, Cal State Northridge, So., D Junior Chris Pontius claimed Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore transfer Ciaran O’Brien was 10/8 - Chris Pontius, UC Santa Barbara, Jr., MF tabbed the midfielder of the Year, while senior Andy Iro became the first three-time winner of a major 10/15 - David Zamora, Cal Poly, Fr., F award with his selection as the Defensive Player of the Year. 10/22 - Shay Spitz, Cal State Fullerton, So., F 10/29 - Ciaran O’Brien, UC Santa Barbara, So., MF Three different schools claimed the final three honors as senior Charles Alamo of UC Riverside was 11/5 - Ciaran O’Brien, UC Santa Barbara, So., MF named the Goalkeeper of the Year, Cal Poly freshman David Zamora was named the Freshman of the Year 11/12 - Juan Hernandez, UC Davis, Jr., MF and newcomer UC Davis had its head man Dwayne Shaffer named the Coach of the Year. 11/19 - Paul Marcoux, UC Davis, So., MF 2007 BIG WEST MEN’S SOCCER NCAA Postseason Wrapup UC Santa Barbara Makes Sweet 16, UC Davis Claims First-Ever Bid in NCAA Tournament When the dust settled after the NCAA’s selection show November 19, two Big West clubs were extended invites as defending national champion UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis received bids to the xx national tournament. The selection of the two clubs marked the fifth time in the last six seasons the conference had sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament. The selection of UC Davis marked the first time that the conference had sent a member other than Cal State Northridge or UC Santa Barbara to the national tournament since men’s soccer was reinstated by the conference back in 2001. The Gauchos received a #12 seed and a first round bye from the committee, while the Aggies, who were making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in their first season as a Division I member, were shipped to Berkeley, Calif., to take on Pac-10 champion California. UCD battled the Bears to a standstill, scoring a late goal to send the match to overtime. Unfortunately, the Aggies tale would not have a happy ending as the Golden Bears knocked in the game-winner in the 103rd minute to advance to the next round. UC Santa Barbara was given the task of beating Washington in its NCAA Tournament opener after the Huskies downed the Portland Pilots in the first round of the tournament. The Gauchos, who had not played for 11 days, came out sharp and scored in the 10th minute for an early lead. That goal would hold up as the UCSB defense repelled the Huskies attack for a 1-0 win and a date in Columbus, Ohio against #5 seed Ohio State. The Buckeyes came into the match on a roll as they were unbeaten in their last xx matches, winning the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles. Undaunted by the task of playing OSU on their home field on a cold and damp Sunday afternoon, UCSB scored in the fifth minute for an early lead. After the Buckeyes evened the match, the Gauchos got a bit of luck as a free kick was headed in by an OSU defender for a 2-1 lead. After the break, UCSB went up 3-1 on a brilliant move by Nick “Belgium” Perera, but the Buckeyes did not quit as they scored twice to knot the match and sent things to overtime.

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