Men's Soccer Race Hits Halfway Point, Races too Close to Call

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Michael Tetteh and UC Santa Barbara find themselves in a tie for first place in the Big West standings at the midway point of conference play.

With just a month to go until the Big West Tournament, the pack is still tight as all four spots are still up for grabs. Two teams (UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly) are tied for the top spot, while Cal State Fullerton is three points ahead of three teams (UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge, UC Davis) which have all recorded six points so far.
NOTEWORTHY

Vom Steeg Stands Alone in Big West Lore
Now in the 11th year at the helm of his alma mater, UC Santa Barbara head coach Tim Vom Steeg achieved a major Big West milestone last week. Thanks to the Gauchos' 1-0 win over Cal Poly on October 7, Vom Steeg is now the all-time winningest coach in Big West lore, passing former Fresno State manager Jose Elgorriaga’s total of 126 wins. Vom Steeg is already the career leader in league-only triumphs, posting his 60th career win against Big West foes with the Gauchos’ victory against UC Irvine on September 27. He is the lone coach in Big West history to post 60+ wins in conference play and 120+ overall wins during league membership.

Burgos Picks Up Hat Trick
As written in this space just two weeks ago, no Big West player had picked up a hat trick since former UC Santa Barbara striker and current D.C. United sensation Chris Pontius scored three goals against UC Irvine on October 3, 2007. Well that drought has finally come to an end as Cal Poly’s Junior Burgos picked up a trio of scores in the Mustangs' thrilling 3-2 home win over Cal State Fullerton on October 14. The hat trick is the 21st in Big West history and sixth in Cal Poly lore. Burgos, a transfer from San Jose State and member of the El Salvador national team during last spring's CONCACAF World Cup qualifying, has been a goal scoring machine in his short Cal Poly career, scoring four goals in his first eight games.

Cal Poly Back to Winning Ways
After a rough non-conference schedule which saw Cal Poly post a 2-6-1 record against a difficult slate, the Mustangs have righted the ship in time for Big West play. The club has won four of its first five conference matches, tallying 12 points to tie UC Santa Barbara for the conference lead. A much improved defense has lead the resurgence as the unit has allowed just three goals in those five matches, two of which came in one outing in a win over Cal State Fullerton. The 4-1-0 record is also the second-best showing through five Big West matches for the Mustangs in program history. The 2007 club picked up 13 points through its initial five conference matches.

Streaks Over for UCSB
An impressive shutout streak came to an end for UC Santa Barbara in the 78th minute of its match against rival Cal State Northridge. The goal ended the Gauchos' shutout streak at 542:10, a school-record run of clean sheets. The last goal conceded by UCSB before the Matador score was in the 76th minute of the Gauchos' loss to San Diego State back on September 25. On a slightly smaller scale, the loss to CSUN also snapped UC Santa Barbara's five-match win streak, six-match unbeaten string in conference play dating back to last season and was the first loss in five conference matches this season.

Prolific Goal Scoring Week
Last week was a goal scoring bonanza as 13 players accounted for the 20 total scores. Aside from Burgos' hat trick, UC Irvine's Irving Garcia scored twice to up his league-leading total to seven, UC Santa Barbara's Danny Barrera scored twice and UCI's Amani Walker tallied a goal for the first time since September 7. Also cracking the goal scoring ledger for the first time in 2009 were Cal Poly's Ryan Anderson, Cal State Fullerton's Jonathan Birt and UCSB's Joe Eubanks.

UCI's Garcia Turns it Up
UC Irvine's Irving Garcia came into the year with All-America type expectations, but few would have foreseen the three-game stretch he just completed. Garcia scored five goals and added two assists in the past three matches, leading the Anteaters out of a mini slump. Garcia's incredible run has put him into the lead in the conference in goals (7) and points (20), while tying for the league lead in assists (6). He also upped his career assists total to 15, which is four shy of cracking into the top 10 all-time in Big West lore and he is averaging over a point a match in his career with 43 points in 36 career matches.

Forgetting 2008
2008 wasn’t the most memorable for three conference teams, but 2009 has already proven to be a bounce-back season for the trio. UC Santa Barbara finished last season with a 10-7-5 record, but the Gaucho standard is back to par as the club has already amassed a 10-3-1 mark and has been ranked as high as #3 in the country. Cal State Fullerton went just 5-14-1 a year ago, but the resurgent Titans are an impressive 7-6-1 in '09, which includes a 3-2-0 mark in conference matches after finishing 2-7-1 against league foes last year. Finally, Cal State Northridge was 8-7-4 at the end of '08, but 2009 has seen the Matadors go 7-5-1 to this point, which includes wins over SMU and rival UC Santa Barbara.

No Ties, No Problem
Ties were en vogue a year ago among the Big West schools as the seven clubs combined for 27 deadlocks, but so far this season the league has come nowhere near that number. There have been just four ties in the 96 games played so far this season, way behind the pace of 11 ties in 81 games on this same date a year ago. Also among the seven Big West clubs, four different teams account for the ties this season.

Big West Live to Twitter
The Big West Conference is excited to bring Big West Live to Twitter, a Twitter feed designed to give fans an in-the-stands view of select Big West Events.  Bringing near-instantaneous photos, commentary, and updates, Big West Live is the first feed of its kind.  Moving beyond the scores and stats, Big West Live delivers the “color” of Big West events.