SAN LUIS OBISPO — UCSB made its point and won the Big West men’s soccer regular season title outright Wednesday night.
The third-ranked Gauchos battled Cal Poly to a scoreless draw before a crowd of 9,824 at Alex G. Spanos Stadium. The result — UCSB’s 12th shutout of the year — earned them the point necessary to fend off challenges from the Mustangs and UC Irvine and secured their sixth conference title in nine years. It also gave them the No. 1 seeding for next week’s Big West tournament.
UCSB (13-3-2, 7-1-1, 22 points) will host the fourth-place team in one semifinal match next Wednesday night.
Cal Poly (8-9-2, 6-3-1) stands in second place with 19 points. UC Irvine (6-3-0, 18 points) can overtake the Mustangs with a win on Saturday.
The Gauchos were determined to leave Cal Poly as sole owner of the regular season trophy.
“We didn’t want to share it,” UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said of the team’s mindset coming into the game. “If we get a tie, we tie. A win would be better, but we’re going to come away with some points tonight.”
Vom Steeg moved Tetteh from midfield to the left fullback spot in the second half and that seemed to settle the team for the rest of the game.
Hayden turned in another stellar performance in goal. He made the save of the night in the 84th minute, diving to his left and knocking away a redirected shot by Cal Poly’s Wes Feighner.
“Sam made the one save he need to with his left hand, and that’s what you’re going to need in a game like that,” said Vom Steeg.
The 12th shutout by the junior put Hayden one away from tying the single season record of 13 set by Danny Kennedy in 2004.
At the other end of the field, the Gauchos felt they got robbed of a penalty kick late in regulation time. On the play, Waid Ibrahim was grabbed and knocked down from behind as he drove through the penalty area, but there was no call from the referee.
That left the Gaucho coaches livid.
“Waid was in,” Vom Steeg insisted. “That’s what you play for is that one. You’re hoping you can get Waid through (the box) and he was through and they grabbed his shirt on the way in.”
David Walker had a good run on goal during overtime, but he hit his shot wide of the mark.
While they couldn’t pull off a victory Wednesday, the fact the Gauchos were able to claim the outright title by getting points at two tough places on the road was noteworthy to Vom Steeg.
“It’s challenging, Irvine and Cal Poly on the road to win a championship.”
Next up for UCSB is Senior Night on Saturday at Harder Stadium. Before the game against UC Davis, the Gauchos will pay tribute to senior players C.J. Cintas, Hedevag, Walker and Jonathan Zerah.
