UCSB soccer rewrites NCAA record book for attendance

UCSB broke its own NCAA Division I single-season men’s soccer attendance record this past fall and established a new mark for total attendance.

The Gauchos averaged 5,873 fans per game, drawing 70,471 for 12 home matches at Harder Stadium in 2010, The total attendance topped the previous national record of 58,392 set by Connecticut in 2007.

The UCSB average was 2,660 more fans per game than second-ranked Akron.

Out of the top-10 highest attended games this past fall, UCSB played in four, and five overall were played at Harder Stadium, including the College Cup Semifinals and Final.

The nation’s highest attended game was the Gauchos’ Sept. 24 match against UCLA, which drew 15,896 fans. It was the largest on-campus stadium crowd in NCAA history. The second biggest crowd in the country was UCSB’s home match with Duke on Oct. 15. That drew 11,242.

Those games rank as the third- and sixth-highest attended regular season contests all-time.

The biggest crowd for a Big West Conference game was the Gauchos’ Oct. 2 match against UC Davis, which drew 6,449 fans to Harder Stadium.

On the road, the Oct. 27 Fox Soccer Channel game at Cal Poly brought in 8,125, ranking it as the fifth highest attended game of the year.

UCSB has led the nation for average attendance the past four seasons. In 2007, the year after the Gauchos captured the program’s first NCAA title, they averaged 3,435 fans and in 2008, that average improved to 3,444.

The Gauchos’ 2009 attendance set a new NCAA record with 4,335 fans per game.

In December, UCSB hosted its first College Cup and drew 9,672 fans for the final between Akron and Louisville after tallying 7,560 fans for the tournament’s semifinal games. The attendances rank third and sixth on the 2010 single-game attendance list.

?Of the all-time top-30 most attended games all-time in NCAA history, UCSB has played in four and hosted three. Of the all-time top-20 most attended games, excluding NCAA Tournament contests, UCSB has played in nine and hosted six.

?2010 Top-Five Average Home Attendances?
Team                 Games     Total               Average?
1. UCSB            12            70,471            5,873?
2. Akron            13            41,770            3,213
?3. Connecticut   11            34,384            3,126?
4. Cal Poly          8             24,100            3,013
?5. Maryland       14            41,157            2,940?