2011 UCSB GAUCHOS Official Thread - Road to Redemption

Not to take anything away from UCI. They have had a great year, and hopefully represent the Big West well in the tournament, but I would hope the committee has some brain and puts UCI and UCSB in different regions, so they won't meet until the final four, if both are good enough to get there.

Irvine and UCSB have both had good years. I wouldn't want to be Irvine playing UCSB for the third time though. Just saying.

I was at the game... it was fun to watch... there was a lot of slipping out there... especially by the UCSB players. The game could have very easily gone the other way... it was a close. They are two pretty evenly matched teams.

Was the first goal against UCSB a goalie error?... seems like Andre got two hands on it and tried to push it over rather than blocking it.

eaternation has a lot to be excited about... Irvine is in a good position this year... last year was just bad scheduling by the Irvine coaching staff and their players and fans suffered.

I suspect we will see either UCLA or Irvine in our bracket.

My biggest complaint about the Irvine facilities is the field size... it's narrow. The play was cramped... like at Poly but not quite as severe. It's too bad that UCSB and Fullerton are the only BW schools with decent size fields (I haven't seen Davis' field).

I think TVS did the right thing last night... he held back some players in order to get healthy for the NCAA tourney... we really need a seed... we'll see if he gambled correctly.

Finally, some reasoned unemotional criticism. I agree with you on the field size. And your assessment that both teams are quality. Right now, there is no real home field advantage for Irvine, since their best players are their wing players (Ibarra & Hernandez), and playing on a cramped field really limits the space they need to run at players. I know the players sometimes prefer to play at a place like SB (big wide field) since it is more conducive to their style. So I don't think the cramped field gives them any more advantage, I actually think it puts them at a disadvantage.

There is not much the team can do about their field size, the facilities they are given, or the support they receive from the fans. That's all administrative stuff. The only thing the Irvine Men's Soccer Team can do is continue to win, and they continue to do so.

15 seed. Winner of Dartmouth/Providence in order to play #2 seed Creighton and then either USF or New Mexico to get to the Final Four. I'm ok with this draw. Nothing easy (Dartmouth is Ive League Champs, Creighton is obviously a top team, and USF/UNM both can get results). Just need to continue to focus on one game at a time. 5 more wins for a College Cup.

I think Irvine definitely has a field advantage... and that is good for them going into the NCAAs. They play that field and know it. There's nothing wrong with that. The throwin for a goal is a good example... great throwin but you can't do that on a regular size field and UCSB should have been trying to do the same thing but didn't (you'd think TVS would have known that by now). At UCSB the crowd is the advantage.

I'd like to see more full size fields though. Irvine isn't like Poly, Northridge and Riverside... those fields are not meant for college soccer IMO... especially Polys.

Irvine didn't deserve to get Bakersfield in their bracket... I think that is a bad first game for Irvine if Bakersfield wins their first round game.

That's regional brackets... Irvine wants to be national champ, tough to complain about any matchup when that is the goal... Irvine might not win that, but they should if they are a championship caliber team. I don't think you'll see irvine complaining, especially with what happened to them last year. 8 seems like a lower seed than they deserve too (we'll see what the rpi say tomorrow I guess), but they played decnt competition and did very well against it... Bottom line is they weren't top 4 though, and after that 5-8 is all the same. Keep taking care of business and it won't matter.

I don't have much sympathy for the teams that are in, they still control their own destiny. Something might be wrong when the second best conference in the nation only gets two bids though

All Big West honors were announced. The Gauchos are well represented. The only glaring ommision IMO is Fifi... he's not mentioned on any of the teams. He's definitely one of the best in the league and should be on the list.

http://www.bigwest.org/assets/sports/msoccer/11MSocAllConf.pdf

So our future opponent gets to start things off since Dartmouth and Providence kicks off at 11am PST today. It's good for whomever wins bc they will have that much more of a break between games. I predicted Dartmouth will win even though Providence is at home. I think the personnel might be beret for Dartmouth. Apparently there is a video link but I can't watch it, so live stats will have to do. I'm fine with a Double OT game along with a red card or 2

I know we can't look past anyone, but I think the Creighton game worries me the most. I think whomever wins that matchup will be in the Final Four.

Let's take it one game at a time Beat Providence on Sunday first

Completely agree, thus why I said "can't look past anyone"

I wouldn't be surprised if Nonni and Kiffe are held out for the first half of this game... to see if we can't get up early on this team. I saw highlights of the Providence-Crieghton game... Providence struggled with Crieghtons possession. I'm hoping we can get up in the first half and then put on the gas... and keep some players rested for another week. This is a team that is dangerous if they go up... not so much so if they have to play from behind and open up.

Here's my quick assessment of these teams after seeing them 2-3 times live and 1-2 times on tape, each.

Prov best attacking options:
Marc Cintron recovered from a broken foot early in the year. Seems to be in shape. Has a professional body and likes to get up the right side and to the end line to serve in crosses. But isn't afraid to take shots from the center.

Kiffe is going to have his hands full. If Cintron can get to Pontius/Big Fr CB, UCSB is going to be in trouble.

Prov has 2 young players that contribute up top. Sophomore Greg Davis is a quick forward who scoots around the top with a nose for the goal. Freshman Marcos Ugarte is money near the goal. He's the guy who could pump 2 goals in because he finds the gaps and if the ball gets to him, he finishes. Fifi is going to have to ensure that one of the CBs picks him up if he turns him over. Better, I'd have Fifi mark him.

Machael David serves the first game of his 3 game NCAA - is he still injured? How fortuitous.

The Province goal keeper is an adequate goalkeeper, I like him more than the UCSB goalkeeper.

The defense is well balanced with Datilus wide, Raley solid back and freshman Brandon Adler. Though, I give the advantage to the talented UCSB forwards. I expect that Sarle, Opoku, Nonni, Garza will be able to get good looks. If Garza is on, the game may be over. These 4 are too talented.

Luis Silva is not going to time, because Daniel Fabian has an unending engine. He's a good defender.

I think that Josue Madueno could have a big game, because I don't think Providence has an answer and it would allow Silva space because either the right back and/or Fabian is going to have to support the defense.

I expect that UCSB should win 2-1, but it won't be a walk in the park, Providence has a solid defense and they are well coached.

Thanks for your assessment Joe. I'm going into this game knowing little to nothing about Providence. I believe that if our players up top are on then we should be perfectly fine. I do worry about long balls and speedy players up top who could get around our CB's, but feel that we should be fine. From your assessment I'm guessing that the midfield is not that impressive for Providence other than their one Mid. If that is the case I can see UCSB creating more in the mid, drawing in the outside players and sending balls to the outside backs for crosses or cut ins. Overloading their back 4/5 should work in our favor. We just have to remember to shoot when open.

One other, rather major, advantage for the Gauchos is that this game is being played in Santa Barbara. I don't care how good a team is, there will be a dropoff if they have to fly 3,000 miles on short notice.

The one minor plus for Providence is that the game is at 5, not 7:30 or 8, so at least jetlag will make it the equivalent of a normal-ish night start on the East Coast.

Still, it's the NCAA tournament - even as a favorite UCSB will have to show up, or they'll be gone.

As a side note - Machael David will be serving his NCAA suspension from last year. Except he's injured and wouldn't play anyway, so essentially there is no additional penalty on top of the automatic 3 games to start the season. I said it was a stupid punishment at the time, and I think this bears it out.

couple of typos.

Supposed to be raining tomorrow evening, so that will likely mean an even smaller crowd and more chance of anything happening. Hopefully we show up ready to go and get the job done.

Great job making the field playable last night. Pretty impressive ground keeping work. I don't think the surface affected the outcome of the game.

Ryan had his best game of the year IMO. Two great shots on goal. He's much better when he asserts himself instead of just connecting.

Luis really had a nice game... he played very simple and with lots of energy. Dom was great as well.

Why is Kiffe still in after we go up 2-0? He's was already playing hurt... why not give him another week to heal for Crieghton? ... that was managed that very poorly by TVS IMO.

I can't explain the two goals in the 2nd half. They are a quality team, they have size and deserve a goal for their play on set peices... but the final score should have been 4-1 or something like that... not 3-2. We dominated the game. We had 10 SOG and scored 3. They had 4 SOG and scored 2!!! We held them to 6 shots total... that is great defense... and yet they scored 2!?!

Garza and Opoku only had 1 shot a piece... neither on goal. Weird. I thought they both played well but neither really stood out last night. Opuku was not offsides as much as he has been.

Good for Josue... it's nice to see him get the stats. He has played as well in other games but didn't get the stats. It just goes to show how dangerous a team we have become... we have a lot of players who can score and assist. I don't think I've see a team in D1 with as many quality attacking players.

Love Fifi! I like it when he takes shots from range just to let the other team know he can. I don't think MD shoots as well as Fifi... it's a nice added bonus in the midfield this year.

Is Nonni still hurt? I think he is... he's not moving the way he was before his injury. It was great to have him on the field... I hope he can continue to give minutes. He's a very tough dude.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mROrd9NMms"]Beneath the Mask - Luis Silva - YouTube[/ame]

Silva

If I had a Hermann vote, Silva would get mine.

Great numbers and the numbers matter, meaning they've been clutch goals and assists. Plus, he's scoring all those goals from midfield instead of forward, where the rest of the leading scorers this year play. In theory, he's even playing a modicum of defense.

Factor in the level of opposition and how well the team is doing and he has the strongest case.

I doubt he'll win, but he should.

To add a layer of intrigue into the Creighton match, the SB Newspress is reporting that Elmer Bolowich was on the committee that meted out the punishment from the Cal match. We were to play at Creighton next year, but Bolowich canceled it, stating that he thought there might be some bad blood between him and UCSB. So, Creighton doesn't want to play us, and UCSB will likely be fired up for this one.

Here is a snippet from the article:

The Gauchos, who lost to Creighton in a men's soccer match at Harder Stadium last year, were supposed to return the trip to Nebraska next year.

But Bluejays' coach Elmar Bolowich, a member of an NCAA committee that sanctioned the Gauchos in the heated aftermath of last year's controversial playoff match at Cal, has decided to say no thanks.

"He's cancelled next year's game," UCSB coach Tim Vom Steeg said. "He thought there might be hard feelings from all the committee stuff, of having brought penalties against us.

"The reality is that this actually benefits us. You make money when you host, not when you travel, and this has given us the opportunity to set up a home-and-away with someone else.

"But I have been laughing about it, because I guess he couldn't keep this week's game from happening."

From the SB Independent...

http://www.independent.com/news/2011/nov/30/playing-footy/

So finally coming around to do this, but I wanted to take the time to talk about this past season and what to expect for the next. Overall this season can't be looked at as a disappointment. Another NCAA appearance with a trip to the Sweet 16. We scored over 50 goals, topped the attendance numbers again, had our first All-American in Luis Silva, and also had another player sign a Generation Adidas contract in Sam Garza (Opoku still has a chance of signing).

Unfortunately a new back line, injuries, and some other factors ended up not allowing this team to reach it's full potential. Watching Creighton vs Charlotte I couldn't help wonder how UCSB would have done vs Creighton at home or even a neutral site, let alone if all of our players were available. Also, knowing how close we were to beating UCLA, if we didn't have some of those injuries occur during that game, I feel this team was Final Four material.

So I will present 2 questions and then answer them accordingly based on this year and what will happen next year.

- With Silva and Garza for sure gone and Opoku maybe leaving early, who is going to take over the scoring as those 3 had 30+ goals?

I don't really think one can replace Silva, and Garza was a solid talent. Opoku had a sophomore slump but was still solid for most of the year. Losing those 3 is not a happy moment, however we have some players in the wings as well as some possibly coming in to help with the loss. Cesar Castillo is the first one to talk about. Didn't play this year b/c of grades transferring being an issue. This guy is Silva's replacement for sure and receives high praises from TVS. Sarle will still be around as well as Nonni if he's healthy. From what I hear the coaches are going after a couple high profile transfer strikers and if those don't work out there are some internationals looking to get in. We need to have at least one top striker come in and it looks like the coaches are on that.

- We scored over 50 goals this year, but still were unable to win games. What is the defense/GK situation look like for next year?

It's no secret that many fans questioned Grandt being in goal, yet he still was considered the best GK we had. The back line also took hits due to injury, but when they were all healthy they were solid. Next year it will be a battle between Grandt and Mansker (coming back from torn ACL) IMO. 2013 we already have a solid GK recruit coming in, so it's a matter of Grandt proving he belongs or Mansker making a statement as the next GK for the next few years. Losing Kiffe is big, but Cazares did well back there when Kiffe was hurt. Schmetz and Glodack will more than likely be the CB pairing and McGlynn coming back gives us a RB who was doing amazing at the start of the year. I really feel that our LB needs to step up and our CB pairing needs to be solid in order to have a productive defense and have a GK who has the faith of the defense and the ability to control the line in front of him (as well as not give up crap goals).

As far as next years starting line up, there are some potential changes to what I think we'll see especially depending on who we bring in. I am assuming that Opoku leaves early.

[LINEUP-4-4-2]Sarle, Nonni, Ryan, Castillo, Baiden, David, Cazares, Schmetz, Glodack, McGlynn, Grandt[/LINEUP-4-4-2]

Subs: Madueno, Roell

GK - Grandt was the starter this year so he gets the step on Mansker. He needs to become more aggressive in his box though. There were a few goals where he could have gone up and grabbed the ball in the air, but didn't commit and the ball bounced around and was knocked in. Confidence and leaping is what he needs to work on.

LB - Cazares got the start there when Kiffe went down and didn't do too bad for a freshman. Not as much as an attacking LB like Kiffe, but I feel he can be a solid choice back there and don't really see anyone else at that spot. Build some confidence and attacking ability to keep the position.

CB - Schmetz was the LCB all year long. He had some miscues, but overall was a solid presence in the back. He needs to increase his strength and speed in the off-season, but overall he should be solid back there.

CB - Glodack played RB mostly since McGlynn went down and Pontius was the other CB, however I believe he played CB in Conn and could be a solid presence back there. When he was injured it really messed up the back line, but welcoming him back healthy will be big for us. Coach compared him to Greg Curry, so I see a Curry/Iro comparison with Glodack and Schmetz back there. He just needs to stay healthy and work a little on timing and speed.

RB - McGlynn will be welcomed back with open arms. Now it's still not GUARANTEED that he's coming back, however he is more than likely going to stay around. He was owning that spot early in the year and he was hurt. Taking the time off and getting healthy can only improve his abilities. He just needs to stay healthy and help captain the team this offseason.

LM - Ryan was typically who we would have on that side this year. He's an up and down player who still hasn't shown his true potential. If he doesn't come to play, someone in the deep midfielder pool will be happy to take his spot.

CAM - Castillo is the next Silva, or at least as close as he can get. He has been praised by TVS and apparently should step right in this spring. I believe he is the record holder for most goals in a high school career in CO so that benefits us b/c apparently he can finish. He just needs to fit in with the team and learn the moves of his surrounding teammates.

CDM - Baiden is an example of if it ain't broke don't fix it. Machael David is coming back into the picture, however Baiden owned the CDM spot for most of the season. He had a few mistakes here and there, but was only a Sophomore. Just needs to keep doing what he's doing and improve strength and endurance a little.

RM - David is here b/c it's hard to keep a specimen like him off the field. This year we found out that Machael David prefers to be offensive minded. Madueno can easily go here, but you can't keep MD off the field. I expect him to play more offensive, or you might see Baiden move to LM and MD to CDM. MD really just needs to shrink his ego a bit b/c I heard that was a big issue amongst the team this year.

LF - Sarle is a talented player and without Opoku he needs to be up top. You might see Castillo and Sarle switch back and forth, but Sarle is the best striker option we have as of right now. He showed some great flashes of what he can do up top, so hopefully he can keep that up. Get a little stronger and keep working on that finishing.

RF - Nonni had huge flashes of brilliance at the start of the season before getting injured. Even when he came back he was not 100%. He is a work horse up top and can finish and body up with the best of them. Just get and stay healthy as well as keep the endurance up this offseason while working on that finishing just a bit more.

Other potential players will be Madueno, who loses his RB spot with McGlynn coming back and maybe his spot in the midfield with MD returning; Roell, who got a few minutes here and there and apparently can finish; Miller, who is a big back who RS this year but is apparently a solid player; and maybe Thayer, who would step in the back line time to time and played there with Pontius last spring. Ezra-Simbwa might also see some PT. Gomez was a bust this season and Vasquez might be done (injured this year and never got healthy). De Leon and Chavez might be some options in the midfield if injuries make us thin.

Again, losing Silva and Kiffe is huge, but throw in Garza and then maybe Opoku and we will need to find some goal scorers. It will be interesting to see who TVS gets to fill the gaps, but overall UCSB should come back strong next year with a solid midfield and a back line that is used to each other.

I love it!! If you are just a fan, I wish we had more of you. Thanks for the forecast.

I hasn't heard this. Is it definite that Garza has signed a GA deal?

Thats what Ives is reporting.