It’s move-in weekend for students at UCSB, but the objective of the Gaucho men’s soccer team is to move on after suffering its first loss of the season last Friday at UCLA.
The 13th-ranked Gauchos return home Friday to face another tough opponent in the University of San Diego. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Harder Stadium.
UCSB (4-1-1) played a solid first half at UCLA last week and led 1-0 at the break on a James Kiffe golazo. The Gauchos hope to replicate that performance for the entire 90 minutes against the Toreros (3-3-0). It will help that defensive midfielder Fifi Baiden will be back in the lineup. He strained his groin and was unable to play in the second half against the Bruins. As a result, UCLA took over the midfield, scored three second-half goals and won 3-2.
The week off helped Baiden heal, and he’ll rejoin Machael David in the center of the midfield.
That is a big for the Gauchos because San Diego has a potent attack, led by veteran forwards Patrick Wallen and Stephen Posa. The 6-2 Wallen, a native of Sweden, is a three-year starter and was named the West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 — he was Freshman of the Year in 2009.
Wallen and Posa were on the San Diego team that lost to UCSB 1-0 in the NCAA Tournament in 2009. That was the last meeting between the two schools.
San Diego is a perennial soccer power on the West Coast. Coach Seamus McFadden is in his 33rd year at the helm. His record is 321-239-56.
The Toreros were picked to finish second behind Loyola Marymount in the WCC preseason poll. They are coming off a 1-0 overtime loss at home against UCLA.
