The road it hopes leads them back to Harder Stadium in December begins Wednesday in Bakersfield for the UCSB men’s soccer team.
After two exhibition matches, the Gauchos open their regular season at Cal State Bakersfield for a 7 p.m. nonconference game. This is the first of three matches in six days for the No. 5-ranked team in the country, which is hosting the NCAA College Cup, Dec. 10-12.
They’ll head off to New Mexico for a Saturday match against the always-tough Lobos and return home to face Creighton on Tuesday, Sept. 7.
UCSB will have a full squad for Bakersfield. Forward Sam Garza, who sat out the match against Mexico’s Under-20 national team with a strained muscle, has been training and should be ready to go, said coach Tim Vom Steeg.
Midfielder Machael David, who received a red-card in the Mexico match, will not have to serve a suspension because the card came in an exhibition match.
The Gauchos have looked quite impressive in about 40-50 minutes of play in their exhibitions against Westmont (a 3-1 win) and Mexico (4-2 loss on penalty kicks). Garza dazzled with a goal and an assist in the Westmont match. Freshman David Opoku played with purpose up front against Mexico, setting up teammates for good scoring opportunities and pressuring defenses with runs into the box.
Michael Nonni has created havoc for defense from his new position as a withdrawn striker.
The midfield of David, Luis Silva and Danny Barrera in the middle and Michael Tetteh and Peter McGlynn on the outside has done well on both sides of the ball.
The defensive triumvirate of Michael Boxall, Chris Hunter and Evan Hunter have played with the toughness, skill and cohesion that Vom Steeg expected from them
Sam Hayden is athletic as ever in goal.
They hope to keep it together for the long haul.
