As far as UCSB is concerned, the all-time series record against UCLA in men’s soccer is forgettable.
Their last meeting in the NCAA Tournament, however, is one that will never be forgotten.
On a freezing December day in St. Louis in 2006, the Gauchos defeated the Bruins to win their first national championship.
On Sunday, two of the country’s premier programs will meet again in the postseason, going at each other in a third-round match at UCLA’s Drake Stadium at 5 p.m. (The game can be heard live on 1490 AM)
UCLA (11-3-4), winner of the Pac 10, is seeded sixth in the tournament. The four-time national champions had a first-round bye and defeated Sacramento State, 2-1, in the second round. Unseeded UCSB (17-4-2), champion of the Big West, beat Wofford 1-0 at home in the first round and knocked out 11th-seeded San Diego 1-0 on the road in the second round.
The two playoff shutouts give UCSB a school-record 16 clean sheets for the season.
“We’re excited to play them,” UCLA coach Jorge Salcedo said of facing the Gauchos again. “It’s obviously going to be a fun game for both teams. There’s starting to be this budding rivalry, I guess. That’s what everybody is telling me.”
UCLA has an overwhelming 30-3-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Gauchos and it’s never been beaten at home.
“UCLA has dominated UCSB in men’s soccer but the last couple of years have been different,” Salcedo, a former Bruin standout, said. “The past three games we’ve played have been very tight, very competitive. They’ve been good college soccer games.”
The Bruins won 3-1 in a regular season game in 2006 at Harder Stadium, but the Gauchos took the rematch in the national title game, 2-1.
In their last meeting, they battled to a 2-2 tie at Drake Stadium in October of 2008.
The Gauchos, led by forward Chris Pontius, played a wide-open game that night.
Salcedo wonders what kind of game plan UCSB’s Tim Vom Steeg will devise for the rematch.
“I’m really curious to see how they come out on Sunday because Tim has a team that can absolutely play good soccer. Are they going to come and disrupt our game and try to play their game?
“I remember in 2006, when we went to Santa Barbara, they wanted to play with us, which was great. I’m a big believer that the game should be played a certain way — you move the ball as a team, you move the ball individually and collectively as team. When we went up to Santa Barbara that’s the way we played and I felt that’s what they tried to do. Obviously, we had success up there.
“But in the final, they played a much more disruptive game. In the second half, any time we connected one or two passes there was a foul or something that would be disruptive to our flow and our rhythm to the game.
“I’m curious to see what’s going to happen Sunday because you look at (Luis) Silva and (Danny) Barrera and (David) Walker and (Michael) Nonni, the four of them are very good soccer players. We’ll see if they’re going to play soccer with us from minute one till the end of the game or come out and be more disruptive to what we’re going to try and do.”
Judging by Vom Steeg’s comments after his team won at University of San Diego in the second round, the Gauchos will play a wide-open game against the Bruins.
“I think if you want to be a soccer fan, you’ll want to be at that game, because I think that game is going to go up and down the field,” he said. “I think it’ll be an exciting game. I think there’ll be a lot of soccer being played that night.”
Both the Bruins and Gauchos have players with great speed and skill.
UCLA’s go-to guy is senior Kyle Nakazawa. The first-team All-Pac 10 forward has scored a career-high 12 goals and has six assists. UCLA has a 9-0-3 record in which he has scored a goal or assisted on a goal. He scored on a penalty kick in a 2-1 second-round win over Sacramento State last Sunday.
“His year has been fantastic,” said Salcedo, who noted that Nakazawa underwent back surgery last year. “A lot of it has to do with his attitude. He adapted to things he needed to. He’s excelled at what he’s good at. He’s an excellent passer and helping the team do what it needs to do to be successful. His goals are highlight-reel goals.”
Nakazawa is one of seven Bruin seniors who played against the Gauchos in the 2006 national title match. Nakazawa, playmaker David Estrada and midfielder Michael Stevens were starters that day.
“They got more guys from ’06 than we do,” said Vom Steeg, whose only holdover from the championship team is leading goal scorer David Walker. “This is the first time in a long time UCLA has a lot of seniors, and that’s what makes them a good team.”
Salcedo said this is UCLA’s most experienced team since 2003.
“We’re a hugely different team with guys who are experienced, guys who have been in our program for more two years,” he said. “Unfortunately and fortunately, it’s a catch-22 when you recruit some of the top youth soccer players in the country. Some are here for a year, some are here for two years. It certainly hurts the continuity of our program. For one reason or another, we have several guys that are here for four years, guys who are influential players and guys who have good experience. It has been different year in that sense.”
Goalkeeper Brian Perk is one the Bruins’ influential players. The senior has international experience, having played for the U.S. national team at the Under-20 World Cup. He’s allowed only 15 goals this season.
Newcomer Amobi Okugo made an immediate impact on the team. The defensive midfielder was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
“He’s done a really good job initiating our attack, but more importantly he’s been in front of our back four and made good plays and not allow the other teams to penetrate our defensive third,” said Salcedo.
The Gauchos’ defense has made one of the biggest turnarounds in college soccer. It’s gone from allowing 39 goals last year to 20 this season. Senior Martin Hedevag, the Big West Defender of the Year, and junior Michael Boxall have played solid in the back and Sam Hayden, the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, has been tremendous, posting a 0.69 goals-against average.
Silva has been a workhorse in the center of the midfield, and Peter McGlynn is coming off a stellar defensive game at San Diego. Machael David, the Big West Freshman of the Year, has been outstanding in defending against the opposing team’s top offensive threat. He’ll probably be matched up against Nakazawa.
Barrera quarterbacks the UCSB attack. Playing with grit and finesse, he has handed out nine assists and scored five goals.
The Gauchos are dangerous all over the field. Six players are in double digits in scoring, led by Walker’s 22 points (9 goals, 4 assists), Barrera’s 19 points and Nonni’s 18 points (6 goals, 6 assists).
“I generally feel they have a group of players, if they come out and play against us and we play against them, it’ll be slugfest in terms of soccer, not necessarily the physical aspects of a college soccer game that you see some times,” said Salcedo.
“It will absolutely be a great soccer game,” Vom Steeg said. “Like all playoff games, it’ll come down to somebody making something late in the game to win it.”
