UCSB alum Tony Lochhead earns MLS honor

Chivas USA defender and UCSB soccer alumnus Tony Lochhead has been named to the 11-man Major League Soccer “Team of the Week” for the week ending Jun. 29, it was announced today.

Lochhead was a major figure for the Los Angeles-based club in its 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake – one of the top teams in the Western Conference – on Saturday, Jun. 28.

A left back by trade, the New Zealand international combined with fellow Gaucho alum Dan Kennedy to keep the team’s first clean sheet of the season, allowing just two shots on goal throughout the game.

Then venturing forward, he provided an assist on Erick Torres’s game-winning goal in the 35th minute, the sole tally of the game. The one-time volley moved Torres into first place in club goal-scoring history among Mexican-born players.

On the season, Lochhead has made seven appearances – all starts – and played a total of 661 minutes. The helper against RSL was his first point of the season and first in the MLS since 2006 with the New England Revolution. He played with Wellington Phoenix FC of the Australian League from 2007 to his signing with Chivas this past winter.

In his four-year career with the Gauchos (2001-04), Lochhead played 7,546 minutes (second-most in program history) and 83 matches (seventh-most in program history). He started 23 times for the 2004 NCAA runner-up team, contributing one goal and nine assists for 11 points.