SAN LUIS OBISPO — The West Coast Soccer Association (WCSA) held its annual regional soccer tournament at Cal Poly over the weekend, where both the men’ s and women’ s club soccer teams at UCSB participated in the tournament.
The men saw their season cut short after their first loss of the season, a 1-0 defeat to UCLA.
The women, meanwhile, continue their reign as a club soccer powerhouse after defeating UCLA, 1-0, in the tournament championship.
The men’ s club soccer team started its season on a high after defeating last year’ s national champions, Weber State, in the final of SDSU’ s Aztec Cup in September. With eight returning seniors, the team looked to cruise to its eighth consecutive WCSA league championship.
While the Gauchos didn’t lose a regular season game, they finished with a 3-0-4 record leaving them with the third seed in the tournament.
The team did win its last two games and entered the regional tournament with confidence. UCSB kept the streak going Saturday morning in its first game of the tournament with a 1-0 win against St. Mary’ s College.
Saturday night the team entered a physical match with UCLA, both teams needing a win to advance in the tournament. UCLA scored the only goal by tapping in the ball after a scramble in front of UCSB’ s net.
The men’ s club soccer team ended their season with an overall record of 8-1-4.
The women’s club soccer team remains a force to be reckoned with in collegiate club soccer. Under head coach Todd Heil, the Gauchos are chasing their fourth consecutive National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) National Soccer Championship.
The team entered the regional tournament with an undefeated record of 11-0-1, their only tie coming from a 0-0 match with Colorado State.
The UCSB women’s club soccer team entered the regional tournament with an automatic bid to the NIRSA National Soccer Tournament after finishing first in the WCSA league.
Under little pressure, UCSB finished the WCSA Regional with three wins over USC, USD, and UCLA. During the tournament the team scored 7 goals while conceding 0.
Ally Chow, senior defender, attributes the team’s success to their unity.
“It’s not just the talent we bring onto the field, but we play our hearts out for each other,” Chow said.
The team now begins training and conditioning for the national tournament Nov. 17-21 in Phoenix, AZ.
