UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer
Founded	1966;59 years ago (1966)
University	University of California, Santa Barbara
Athletic director	Kelly Barsky
Head coach	Tim Vom Steeg (25th season)
Conference	Big West
Location	Santa Barbara, California
Stadium	Harder Stadium (Capacity: 17,000)
Nickname	Gauchos
Colors	Blue and gold [1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament championships
2006
NCAA Tournament runner-up
2004
NCAA Tournament College Cup
2004, 2006
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2004, 2006, 2019
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2019, 2021, 2024
Conference Tournament championships
2010, 2021
Conference Regular Season championships
2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2021

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team is an NCAA Division I college soccer team composed of student-athletes attending the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Gauchos play their home matches at Harder Stadium. Like most of the other UC Santa Barbara Gauchos athletic teams, the men's soccer team competes in the Big West Conference.

The UCSB Gauchos won the 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The program has produced 19 All-American selections, all but one of which since 2002, and over 60 players who have gone on to play professionally or represent their senior national teams. ^[2]

Each season from 2007 to 2015, the Gauchos were recognized by the NCAA as the men's attendance champions by average attendance (men's and women's inclusive across Division I, II, and III) – the longest such recorded streak in the NCAA record books. ^[3] The program holds the top six all-time NCAA soccer records for largest regular season attendances at on-campus venues (men's and women's inclusive across Division I, II, and III). ^{[4] [5]} This is highlighted by the top all-time mark of 15,896 fans packed into Harder Stadium on September 24, 2010, when UC Santa Barbara hosted UCLA for their regular season match, despite the Santa Barbara County Fire Marshal turning fans away at the gates for fear of filling the stadium over capacity. ^{[6] [7] [8]}

History

See also: List of UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer seasons

Humble beginnings

UC Santa Barbara fielded its first men's soccer team in 1966 but didn't compete in the Big West Conference until 1983. ^[9] The Gauchos had mixed success, with good seasons (1983, 1988) alongside bad seasons (1991, 1992), but never found prolonged stretches of success or failure. ^[10]

The Big West Conference stopped sponsoring men's soccer after the 1991 season but re-instituted it before the 2001 season. ^[9] During this period, UCSB competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The return of soccer to the Big West Conference marked the rough beginning of the Gauchos' greatest success to date. ^[9]

Vom Steeg era

In January 1999, UC Santa Barbara's athletic director, Gary Cunningham, was successfully able to hire former UCSB and professional soccer player, Tim Vom Steeg, away from Santa Barbara City College to lead the Gauchos' program. ^{[11] [12]} The Gauchos won the 2001 Big West Conference championship for the first time in their history, but missed out on a trip to the NCAA Tournament since the Big West Conference was ineligible for an automatic bid. ^[13] UC Santa Barbara have won eight Big West regular season championships (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014) and have won the Big West tournament in 2010. ^[10]

2004 NCAA Championships

The Gauchos burst onto the national scene in 2004 during their run at the 2004 NCAA Championship. The showing in this tournament established UC Santa Barbara as a force in college soccer, with UCSB marching to the finals before losing out on penalties to Indiana.

2006 NCAA Championships

Main article: 2006 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's soccer team

2006 White House visit with George W. Bush.

The crowning achievement of the men's soccer program took place in 2006, when UCSB won the NCAA Division I Championship in a 2–1 decision over UCLA. It marked the program's first championship and only the university's second athletics championship (1979 Men's Water Polo).

At one point during the season, UCSB's record stood at 7–6 with dim prospects for postseason glory. However, a 5–1 stretch to close the regular season raised morale. The Gauchos made the NCAA Tournament as an unseeded team. During their championship run, the unseeded Gauchos defeated San Diego State at home, then #1 ranked/#3 seeded SMU followed by Old Dominion on the road, and finally Northwestern before an NCAA season-high 8,784 people at Harder Stadium in Santa Barbara. This propelled the Gauchos into the Final Four and earned them a trip to the College Cup held at Hermann Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.

UCSB needed extra time to defeat #2 seed Wake Forest 0–0 (4–3 on penalties) in their first match of the College Cup. The final was a matchup between Southern California teams as UCLA advanced on a 4–0 win over Virginia. The 8th-ranked and seeded Bruins served as the final team to fall to the Gauchos by a score of 2–1 to complete UCSB's magical season.

Players

Current squad

As of August 22, 2025 ^[14]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ENG Luke Skinner 2 DF   JPN Haruki Utsumi 3 DF   USA Cole Harris 4 DF   SWE Calle Mollerberg 5 MF   GER Mika Ney 6 MF   FRA Justin Gomes 7 FW   SLE Buba Fofanah 8 MF   USA Ramses Martinez 9 FW   DEN Nicolas Willumsen 10 FW   ISL Steinar Bjornsson 11 MF   USA Kaden Standish 13 MF   USA Ethan Senter 14 DF   DEN Jacob Blach 15 FW   USA Owen Wall 16 DF   USA Keaton Fargo 17 MF   USA Dominick Phanco

No. Pos. Nation Player 18 MF   USA Jacob Medina 19 DF   USA Drew Kamienski 20 MF   USA Jack Middleton 21 FW   USA Mateos Carvalho 22 FW   USA Ocean Salari 24 MF   USA Eddie Villeda 25 FW   USA Isaiah Barber 26 GK   USA Dylan Hotaling 27 FW   CAN Chris Oginni 28 DF   CAN Colby Renton 29 GK   USA Owen Beninga 31 DF   USA Kevin Brown 33 FW   USA Zac Siebenlist 77 DF   ISR Peleg Brown 85 MF   NED Thomas Noordegraaf

Notable former players

• Geoffrey Acheampong (2015)
• Dion Acoff (2012)
• Fuad Adeniyi (2015)
• Jaime Ambriz (1999–2001)
• Memo Arzate (2002–2003)
• Hunter Ashworth (2018–2019)
• Eric Avila (2005–2007)
• Fifi Baiden (2010–2013)
• Danny Barrera (2008–2010)
• Lamar Batista (2016)
• Will Baynham (2019)
• Iván Becerra (2004–2005)
• Noah Billingsley (2016–2019)
• Ema Boateng (2012)
• Michael Boxall (2007–2010)
• Nate Boyden (2001–2005)
• Bryan Byrne (2003–2006)
• Achille Campion (2012–2013)
• Joe Cannon (1993)
• Javier Castro (2012–2013)
• Nick DePuy (2013–2016)
• Bryan Dominguez (2008)
• Manu Duah (2024)
• Paul Ehmann (2013–2014)
• Rob Friend (2001–2002)
• Ryo Fujii (2014)
• Kevin Garcia-Lopez (2010–2014)
• Sam Garza (2010–2011)
• William Gillingham (2017–2021)
• Andy Iro (2004–2007)
• Ismaila Jome (2013–2015)
• Neil Jones (2001–2004)
• Alan Keely (2002)
• Dan Kennedy (2001–2004)
• Ryan Kenny (2005)
• James Kiffe (2009–2011)
• Seo-In Kim (2015–2017)
• Tony Lochhead (2001–2004)
• Thiago Martins (1999–2000)
• Drew McAthy (2001–2004)
• David McGill (2002–2003)
• Peter McGlynn (2008–2012)
• Reed McKenna (2013–2014)
• Randy Mendoza (2015–2017)
• Rodney Michael (2017–2020)
• Bryan Monka (1999–2000)
• Alfonso Motagalvan (2005–2008)
• Michael Nonni (2009–2011)
• Tino Nuñez (2004–2007)
• Ciaran O'Brien (2007)
• David Opoku (2010–2011)
• Dalton Pando (2016)
• Nick Perera (2005–2008)
• Charley Pettys (2009)
• Chris Pontius (2005–2008)
• Christian Ramirez (2009–2010)
• Mateo Restrepo (2016–2019)
• Eric Reyes (2010)
• Kyle Reynish (2002–2006)
• Ralph Robertson (1993–1995)
• Tyler Rosenlund (2004–2006)
• Ahinga Selemani (2015–2016)
• Luis Silva (2008–2011)
• Sam Strong (2015–2016)
• Michael Tetteh (2008–2010)
• Carson Vom Steeg (2018–2021)
• Justin Vom Steeg (2015)
• Tim Vom Steeg (1985–1988)

Coaching staff

Current technical staff

As of August 22, 2025 ^[15]

Position	Name
Head coach	Tim Vom Steeg
Associate head coach	Greg Wilson
Goalkeeper coach	Matias Fernandez
Assistant coach	Carson Vom Steeg

Head coaches

As of August 2021

Name	Nationality	From	To	P	W	L	D	Win%	Honours
Zolton von Smogyi	-	1966	1971	59	32	21	6	.593
Sandy Guess	-	1972	1973	25	9	13	3	.420
Sandy Guess/Ken Reeves	-	1974	1974	15	5	6	4	.467
Alan Meeder		1975	1978	73	42	26	5	.610
John Purcell	-	1979	1980	37	15	17	5	.473
Andy Kuenzli	-	1981	1989	180	95	64	21	.586
Cliff Draeger	-	1990	1991	37	15	20	2	.432
Mark Arya		1992	1998	130	40	84	6	.331
Tim Vom Steeg		1999	Present	449	273	124	52	.666

The Blue-Green Rivalry

Main article: Blue–Green Rivalry

Chosen as the #1 "Greatest Rivalry In College Soccer" by CollegeSoccerNews.com, the main rival of the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos soccer team is the Cal Poly Mustangs men's soccer team. ^[16] The rivalry is a part of the larger Blue–Green Rivalry, which encompasses all sports from the two schools. With both schools located on the Central Coast less than 100 miles apart, attendance has risen dramatically following the Gauchos' 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The crowds of these games are record-setting and are among the highest regular-season games in NCAA college soccer history.

Postseason

The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos have an NCAA Division I Tournament record of 23–13–1 through fifteen appearances. ^[17]

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2002	First round Second round	San Diego California	W 2–0 L 1–2
2003	Second round Third round	California St. John's	W 2–0 L 2–3
2004	Second round Third round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	Milwaukee UNC Greensboro VCU Duke Indiana	W 2–1 W 1–0 W 4–1 W 5–0 L 1–2
2005	First round Second round	San Diego State CSU Northridge	W 2–0 L 2–3
2006	First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals Semifinals National Championship	San Diego State SMU Old Dominion Northwestern Wake Forest UCLA	W 2–1 W 3–1 W 2–1 W 3–2 W 1–0 W 2–1
2007	Second round Third round	Washington Ohio State	W 1–0 L 3–4
2008	Second round	California	L 2–3
2009	First round Second round Third round	Wofford San Diego UCLA	W 1–0 W 1–0 L 1–2
2010	First round Second round	Denver California	W 1–0 L 1–2
2011	Second round Third round	Providence Creighton	W 3–2 L 1–2
2013	Second round	Penn State	L 0–1
2015	Second round Third round	South Carolina Clemson	W 1–0 L 2–3
2019	First round Second round Third round Quarterfinals	California Saint Mary's Indiana Wake Forest	W 3–1 W 4–0 W 1–0 L 0–1
2021	First round	UCLA	L 1–2
2024	First round Second round	UCLA Stanford	W 1–0 D 2–2 (L 6–5 on PKs)

References

1. "UCSB Color" . Retrieved December 5, 2022.
2. "Nick DePuy Named All-American, Becomes Fourth Gaucho Ever to Earn First Team Status". UC Santa Barbara Gauchos . December 11, 2015. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
3. "Men's Soccer Attendance Records: Annual Home Attendance Champions" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . p. 5. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
4. "Men's Soccer Attendance Records: All-Time Largest Crowds" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . p. 7. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
5. "Women's Soccer Attendance Records: Game Attendance Records" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . p. 6. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
6. Keh, Andrew (November 2, 2010). "Surge in Attendance at Men's College Games". The New York Times . New York City . Retrieved April 6, 2016.
7. Eskilson, J.R. (September 20, 2012). "Men's College Preview: The Great Cal Rivalry". topdrawersoccer.com. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
8. Punzal, Barry (September 20, 2012). "It's the main event: UCSB vs. UCLA at Harder Stadium". presidiosports.com. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
9. "Big West Conference Men's Soccer Records" (PDF). bigwest.org. December 2014. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
10. "Big West Conference Men's Soccer Records" (PDF). bigwest.org. December 2014. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
11. "Tim Vom Steeg – Men's Soccer". DARE. UC Santa Barbara Gauchos. 2013. p. 39. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
12. "Friday's Sports Transactions". Associated Press. January 16, 1999. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
13. "Men's Soccer Claims Big West Championship With 2-0 Shutout Of UC Irvine". ucsbgauchos.com. November 16, 2001. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
14. "2025 Men's Soccer Roster". ucsbgauchos.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
15. "2025 Men's Soccer Roster Men's Soccer Coaching Staff". ucsbgauchos.com. Retrieved August 22, 2025.
16. "The Fourteen Greatest Rivalries In College Soccer". collegesoccernews.com. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2016.
17. "Division I Men's Soccer Championships Records Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association . Retrieved July 22, 2018.

External links

• Official website