Big West Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara travels up north to face Brigham Young in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The Gauchos and Cougars kick off at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 12 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on the campus of Stanford University.
NOTEWORTHY
Keep An Eye On
Katy Roby, UC Santa Barbara
Roby earned Big West Tournament Most Valuable Player honors after the sophomore scored the game-tying goal against Cal Poly in the championship match and netted her penalty kick try in the shootout between both teams. Roby was the fourth Gaucho to step up in the PK shootout after both teams battled to a 1-1 tie through regulation and two overtimes. She notched her fourth goal of the season in the 69th minute with a well-placed shot to the left side of the net, breaking a string of 700-plus minutes in which Cal Poly had not been scored upon.
MORE NOTABLES
Gauchos Draw Brigham Young In NCAA First Round
Big West Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara makes its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, pairing up with Mountain West Conference opponent Brigham Young in first round action on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. in Stanford, Calif. Host Stanford, the national No. 1 seed, takes on Northern Arizona in the other game at 7:00 p.m. The two winning teams meet in a second round contest on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
UCSB Postseason Facts
Big West Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara makes its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, and ninth overall. The Gauchos are 5-8 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. UCSB is making consecutive NCAA appearances for the first time since stringing together three straight trips from 1989-91. The Gauchos also made four appearances in a row from 1984-87.
Familiar Place
UCSB returns to the site of its NCAA Tournament battle in 2008 when the Gauchos were defeated by Stanford in the first round, 2-0. This year’s first round opponent, Brigham Young, is 17-3-2 overall. The Cougars were upset in the Mountain West Conference Tournament by San Diego State. UCSB and BYU have met just once before, a 3-0 Cougar win on Oct. 24, 1997. UCSB is 0-2-1 versus the 2009 NCAA Tournament field, sandwiching a 1-1 tie against Michigan State around 2-0 and 3-1 losses to Santa Clara and UCLA, respectively.
UC Santa Barbara Repeats As Tournament Champion
Penalty kick shootouts work like a charm for the UC Santa Barbara women’s soccer program. For the second straight season, the Gauchos earned the Big West’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by virtue of being the conference’s tournament champion. After defeating Cal State Northridge 2-1 in semifinal road action, the Gauchos shifted their attention up the 101 Freeway to San Luis Obispo and tournament top seed Cal Poly. Ninety minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtime could not break a 1-1 deadlock, so the two schools engaged in a winner-take-all penalty kick showdown. The Gauchos edged the Mustangs 5-4, besting their Central Coast rival in PK’s for the second consecutive year. UCSB defeated CP, 5-4, in PK’s in the 2008 semifinal and outlasted Long Beach State, 6-5, in another shootout to determine the 2008 title game.
More Tournament Facts
UC Santa Barbara’s Big West Tournament championship in 2008 broke a 17-year drought for the school in terms of reaching the NCAA Tournament. No such wait would be needed the next time around with UCSB’s follow up title in 2009. The Gauchos became the third school in Big West Tournament history to win multiple titles, joining Cal Poly and Cal State Fullerton, which both have three. The Gauchos were the fourth school to win the tournament as the No. 3 seed, joining UC Irvine (1997), Cal Poly (2004) and Cal State Fullerton (2006).
MOST BIG WEST TOURNAMENT TITLES
Cal Poly 3
Cal State Fullerton 3
UC Santa Barbara 2
UC Irvine 1
Running That Extra Mile
Conditioning is a hallmark of the UC Santa Barbara program, and it has helped them obtain favorable results. Consider that in the last eight games, the Gauchos have gone to overtime five times and went 2-1-2 in that span.
Cal Poly Wins Sixth Big West Regular Season Title
Cal Poly captured its sixth regular season conference title on the final day of the league ledger with a 2-0 win at Central Coast rival UC Santa Barbara. The Mustangs have won more regular season titles than any other Big West member since the conference began sponsoring women’s soccer in 1996. All six titles – 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2009 – have been won outright. Cal State Fullerton, which has won five titles, shared the championship on two occasions.
MOST BIG WEST REGULAR SEASON TITLES
Cal Poly 6
Cal State Fullerton 5
Long Beach State 3
UC Santa Barbara 2
Pacific 1
Kugler Among Big West Leading Scorers
Junior Kailyn Kugler enters the NCAA Tournament as UC Santa Barbara’s leading scorer with 23 points on nine goals and five assists. The nine goals tie her for second in the Big West. Although she has been held scoreless in the last four games, Kugler’s nine goals is exactly one-third of the team’s season total of 27 goals. Kugler’s career totals of 22 goals and 55 points both rank second among active Big West players.
Ives Tied For Ninth In Career Assists
The 2008 Big West Offensive Player of the Year with nine goals and seven assists, UC Santa Barbara forward Genelle Ives has been unable to replicate those stats in 2009. The senior has one goal and one assist on the year. However, she has started the last three games after coming off the bench in six of the previous seven contests. Make no mistake - she’s still dangerous as her 18 career assists tie her for ninth all-time in the Big West.
Stumpf Secures 100th Career Victory
Head coach Paul Stumpf, in his 11th season at the helm of UC Santa Barbara, is 108-85-27 (.552) for his career. He earned his 100th career win in the Gauchos’ 1-0 win at Nevada on Aug. 28. In doing so, he became only the third Big West coach to eclipse 100 wins and joined Cal Poly’s Alex Crozier and Pacific’s Keith Coleman on the list. Stumpf is second all-time in Big West conference victories with 55 and his 108 victories overall place him third.
Shutout Streak To Remember
Cal Poly’s successful season featuring 14 victories, a Big West regular season championship and a trip to the Big West Tournament championship game also included seven straight shutout by Mustang goalkeeper Coral Hoover. She finished with 11 shutouts on the year, tying a Big West single-season record.
Big West Live Comes 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.