University of California, Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer

Football club infobox
clubname = UCSB Gauchos


fullname = University of California
Santa Barbara Gauchos
nickname = The Gauchos
founded = 1966
ground = Harder Stadium,
Santa Barbara, California
capacity = 17,000
chairman = Henry T. Yang
mgrtitle = Head Coach
manager = Tim Vom Steeg
league = Big West Conference
season = Big West 2007|2007
position = 1st
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The University of California, Santa Barbara Gauchos soccer team competes at the NCAA Division I level. They are affiliated with the school and, like most teams from UCSB, they play in the Big West Conference. The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring soccer in 1991 but reinstituted it in 2001. Over this period, UCSB competed in a regional conference called the MPSF. Since the return of soccer to the Big West 6 years ago, the Gauchos have won 4 conference championships and have appeared in 5 consecutive NCAA tournaments. In 2006, UCSB won the NCAA Division I Championship in a 2-1 decision over UCLA. It is the program's first championship and only UCSB's second athletics championship. In their championship run, the unseeded Gauchos defeated San Diego State, then the #1 ranked SMU Mustangs on the road, followed by Old Dominion on the road, then Northwestern University before an NCAA season high 8,784 people in Santa Barbara, followed by Wake Forest and then the #8 UCLA Bruins for the title. The Gauchos are also remembered for their run at the 2004 NCAA Division I Championship in which they lost in the finals to Indiana University on penalty kicks. The Gauchos play in Harder Stadium (capacity of 17,000) on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Current squad

"As of 2008:"

Current coaching staff

Notable alumni

:The players in bold have senior international caps.

* Joe Cannon '93 plays for San Jose Earthquakes of the MLS and has featured for the United States National Team
* Thiago Martins '02 plays in Norway for FK Bodø/Glimt of the Tippeligaen
* Rob Friend '03 plays in Germany for Borussia Mönchengladbach of the Fußball-Bundesliga as well as the Canadian National Team
* Alan Keely '03 plays in Ireland for Shelbourne F.C. of the FAI eircom League of Ireland First Division
* David McGill '04 plays in Ireland for Shelbourne F.C. of the FAI eircom League of Ireland First Division
* Neil Jones '05 has featured for the New Zealand National Team and is currently an assistant coach for UCSB
* Dan Kennedy '05 plays for Club Deportivo Chivas USA of the MLS
* Tony Lochhead '05 plays in Australia for Wellington Phoenix FC of the A-League as well as the New Zealand National Team
* Tyler Rosenlund '07 plays for Toronto FC of the MLS and has featured for the Canadian National Team
* Andy Iro '08 plays for Columbus Crew of the MLS
* Tino Nuñez '08 plays for Real Salt Lake of the MLS
* Ciaran O'Brien '08 plays for Colorado Rapids of the MLS

UCSB seasons (Since 2001)

References

External links

* [http://ucsbgauchos.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/ucsb-m-soccer-body.html Official UCSB Soccer page]
* [http://www.bigwest.org Big West Conference page]
* [http://www.mpsports.org Mountain Pacific Sports Federation page]

UCSB