Big West Tournament champion UC Santa Barbara got some more hardware today as the Gauchos claimed at least a share of each of the major men's soccer awards.
The UCSB roll call saw Sam Garza named the Co-Offensive Player of the Year, Michael Boxall named the Defensive Player of the Year, Danny Barrera claim the Midfielder of the Year, David Opoku garner Freshman of the Year and Tim Vom Steeg nab the Coach of the Year. UC Irvine's Amani Walker was the only non-UCSB player to grab an award as he was named the Co-Offensive Player of the Year.
Garza, a sophomore from Highland Village, Texas, had an immediate impact on the Gaucho offense in his first season in the blue and gold. The transfer from Denver has scored nine goals and added six assists for 24 points, tying for first in the league in points, tied for second in goals and tied for third in assists. Garza was a force during conference play for UCSB, scoring five times and adding two assists for 12 points in nine games. He was a consistent performer in his 19 games, recording at least one point in all but eight matches and at least two shots in 18 outings. Garza also showed his big play ability when he recorded the 25th hat trick in Big West history on October 23 against Cal State Northridge, putting all three of his shots on goal into the net.
Walker, a senior from San Diego, Calif., ended his UCI career as one of the top scorers in program and Big West history. In his final season, Walker leads the conference in goals (11) and is tied for the lead in points (24). He turned it on against Big West foes, scoring a league-best seven goals in his 10 matches. Walker, who won Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this season, also showed an ability to deliver in the clutch as he collected four game-winning goals for the regular season champion Anteaters. For his career, Walker is 10th all-time in Big West history with 27 scores and just finished outside the top 10 in career points with 65.
Boxall, a senior from Auckland, New Zealand, becomes the seventh UCSB defender to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. He is a key figure on the Gaucho backline, part of a defense that has allowed just 15 goals in 20 matches, a 0.75 per game average. Boxall was dominant in marking opposing teams' top players, helping UCSB allow one goal or less in 17 of its 20 matches and 8.25 shots per game.
Barrera, a junior from Thousand Oaks, Calif., is the first player to win back-to-back Midfielder of the Year awards and the first consecutive award winner of any kind since former UCSB star Andy Iro won three consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards from 2005-07. Barrera is the key cog of UCSB’s attack, scoring four goals and picking up seven assists for 15 points. He is ranked second in the league in assists and ranks eighth in points. Six of those seven assists came against conference foes, the second-best figure in the league. Barrera also tallied a pair of game-winners from his midfield position, both coming in back-to-back games against Duke on October 15 and UC Riverside two days later. He is also quicky moving up the all-time Big West in assists as his 21 helpers currently puts him in a tie for eighth.
Opoku, a freshman from Accra, Ghana, filled a key void up front for the Gauchos in his first season. Filling in for graduated star David Walker, Opoku is in a tie for fifth in the league in points (17) and goals (6) and tied for seventh in assists (5). Opoku, who started 13 of his 19 matches, also picked up a pair of game-winners and needed only 28 shots to score his six goals. He also had a pair of matches in which he scored a goal and an assist, one of them coming in the Big West Tournament semifinal overtime win over Cal Poly. In that contest he scored the equalizer and had the game-winning assist.
Hayden, a senior from Jackson Hole, Wyo., is honored as the Goalkeeper of the Year for the second straight season, the first keeper to do that since former UCSB standout Dan Kennedy won back-to-back honors in 2003-04. In his swansong with the Gauchos, Hayden ranks second in the Big West in goals against average (0.72), second in shutouts (8), third in save percentage (.814) and tied for fifth in saves (57). Hayden had six games with five or more saves this season, including a season-best six in the 2-0 victory over UCLA on September 24. On the Big West career charts, Hayden ranks in a tie for sixth with 24 career shutouts, while he owns the best goals against average in league history at 0.73.
Vom Steeg is in the 12th year at his alma mater, having compiled a 149-48-24 record during his coaching career as a member of the Big West. This season, Vom Steeg’s troops started out at 0-2-2, but rebounded to go into the NCAAs with a 13-4-3 record. UCSB finished second in the Big West standings at 7-2-1 and won the Big West Tournament for the first time. The Gauchos are also making their ninth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and have won 10+ games for the 10th straight year. In all, Vom Steeg has now won the Coach of the Year award on three occasions.
UC Santa Barbara led all schools with nine All-Big West selection, including a league-high six first teamers for the second year in a row. In all, five of those six first team all-stars repeated from last season. UC Irvine picked up eight All-Conference selections, half of which were first team status. Other notables include Cal Poly’s David Zamora who picked up his fourth All-Conference mention and second first team selection, and the Cal State Fullerton first team selections of Nick Posthuma and Kevin Venegas. They are the Titans' first duo to be named first team All-Big West since 2006. The complete list of All-Big West Teams can be found by clicking the above link.
2010 ALL-BIG WEST MENS SOCCER TEAMS
FIRST TEAM
|
|
Player
|
School
|
Year
|
Position
|
Hometown
|
|
Sam Garza
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Sophomore
|
Forward
|
Highland Village, Texas
|
|
Nick Posthuma
|
Cal State Fullerton
|
Junior
|
Forward
|
Pasadena, Calif.
|
|
+Amani Walker
|
UC Irvine
|
Senior
|
Forward
|
San Diego, Calif.
|
|
+David Zamora
|
Cal Poly
|
Senior
|
Forward
|
San Jose, Costa Rica
|
|
+Danny Barrera
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Thousand Oaks, Calif.
|
|
Machael David
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Sophomore
|
Midfielder
|
Milan, Italy
|
|
Miguel Ibarra
|
UC Irvine
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Lancaster, Calif.
|
|
+Luis Silva
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Los Angeles, Calif.
|
|
Kevin Venegas
|
Cal State Fullerton
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Lakewood, Calif.
|
|
+Corey Attaway
|
UC Irvine
|
Senior
|
Defender
|
Chino, Calif.
|
|
+Michael Boxall
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Senior
|
Defender
|
Auckland, New Zealand
|
|
Joel Bagby
|
UC Irvine
|
Senior
|
Defender
|
Huntington Beach, Calif.
|
|
+Patrick Sigler
|
Cal Poly
|
Junior
|
Defender
|
Windsor, Calif.
|
|
+Sam Hayden
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Senior
|
Goalkeeper
|
Jackson Hole, Wyo.
|
SECOND TEAM
|
|
Player
|
School
|
Year
|
Position
|
Hometown
|
|
David Opoku
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Freshman
|
Forward
|
Accra, Ghana
|
|
Lance Patterson
|
UC Davis
|
Junior
|
Forward
|
Aurora, Colo.
|
|
Arnie Sanchez
|
UC Riverside
|
Senior
|
Forward
|
Perris, Calif.
|
|
Spencer Thompson
|
UC Irvine
|
Senior
|
Forward
|
Ahwatukee, Ariz.
|
|
Junior Burgos
|
Cal Poly
|
Senior
|
Midfielder
|
San Bruno, Calif.
|
|
Rafael Garcia
|
Cal State Northridge
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Canoga Park, Calif.
|
|
Jacob Hustedt
|
Cal Poly
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Sandy, Utah
|
|
Chris Beville
|
UC Davis
|
Senior
|
Defender
|
Danville, Calif.
|
|
Wes Feighner
|
Cal Poly
|
Junior
|
Defender
|
Los Alamitos, Calif.
|
|
Peter McGlynn
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Junior
|
Defender
|
Skerries, Ireland
|
|
Andrew Fontein
|
UC Irvine
|
Junior
|
Goalkeeper
|
Las Vegas, Nev.
|
|
Patrick McLain
|
Cal Poly
|
Junior
|
Goalkeeper
|
Eau Claire, Wis.
|
HONORABLE MENTION
|
|
Player
|
School
|
Year
|
Position
|
Hometown
|
|
Chris Gaschen
|
Cal Poly
|
Sophomore
|
Forward
|
Granite Bay, Calif.
|
|
Ruben Valencia
|
UC Riverside
|
Freshman
|
Forward
|
Fontana, Calif.
|
|
Gray Bailey
|
UC Irvine
|
Senior
|
Midfielder
|
Huntington Beach, Calif.
|
|
Cesar Diaz
|
UC Riverside
|
Junior
|
Midfielder
|
Corona, Calif.
|
|
Jose Diaz
|
UC Riverside
|
Sophomore
|
Defender
|
Corona, Calif.
|
|
Jeremy Hohn
|
Cal State Northridge
|
Junior
|
Defender
|
Vacaville, Calif.
|
|
Chris Hunter
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
Junior
|
Defender
|
South Shields, England
|
|
Nathan Javadi
|
UC Davis
|
Senior
|
Defender
|
Lake Forest, Calif.
|
|
Everett Pitts
|
UC Irvine
|
Sophomore
|
Defender
|
Chino Hills, Calif.
|
|
Trevor Whiddon
|
Cal State Fullerton
|
Junior
|
Goalkeeper
|
Carlsbad, Calif.
|
+ - Two-time All-Big West First Team selection
2010 Big West Offensive Player of the Year
Sam Garza, UC Santa Barbara
Amani Walker, UC Irvine
2010 Big West Midfielder of the Year
Danny Barrera, UC Santa Barbara
2010 Big West Defensive Player of the Year
Michael Boxall, UC Santa Barbara
2010 Big West Goalkeeper of the Year
Sam Hayden, UC Santa Barbara
2010 Big West Freshman of the Year
David Opoku, UC Santa Barbara
2010 Big West Coach of the Year
Tim Vom Steeg, UC Santa Barbara