The UC Santa Barbara Men’s Soccer team announced its full 2023 schedule on Thursday.
The 18-game season will be Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg’s 25th leading the Gauchos, as UC Santa Barbara looks to claim an eighth Big West Championship and return to the national postseason.
“The goal of your season is to make the NCAA Tournament,” Vom Steeg said. “So, all the games that lead up to that are to prepare you for conference play, and then conference play into postseason play.”
Before the regular season begins, UC Santa Barbara will host a pair of pre-season exhibitions at Harder Stadium against Loyola Marymount on Aug. 13 and against Westmont on Aug. 20, both at 7 p.m.
The Gauchos will then start the regular season with non-conference play, featuring tough road tests and a collection of exciting home contests.
“We have a couple of really difficult places to play on the road, Grand Canyon and Portland,” Vom Steeg said. “And we have games at home that I think will be very entertaining.”
The regular season begins at home, with the Gauchos hosting Oral Roberts on Aug. 25 and Pacific on Aug. 28.
As part of their community outreach program, UCSB Men’s Soccer will welcome local faith groups to Harder Stadium for Faith Night during the season opener and will host a Frontline Workers Night during the game against Pacific.
September brings two tough road trips, with the Gauchos heading north to face Portland, who finished as the No. 10 team in the country last season, on the first of the month. UCSB will then head to Phoenix on Sept. 12 to meet Grand Canyon.
The Gauchos make their final non-conference road trip on Sept. 19, taking on California Baptist in Riverside.
Between those road trips, UCSB will host four non-conference matches in September, beginning with UNLV on Sept. 4 for First Responders Night, followed by Utah Valley on Sept. 9, which will feature an AYSO Banner Parade during the game.
UCSB will host Kansas City for Hispanic Heritage Night on Sept. 16 and round out its non-conference schedule on Sept. 23 by hosting Cal Poly for the Blue-Green Rivalry game and Alumni Night at Harder Stadium.
The Big West season begins on Sept. 27 for the Gauchos, as they head south to take on UC San Diego, beginning their quest for the conference title.
“I think the conference this year will continue to rebound and continue to be better than it was last year,” Vom Steeg said. “Consequently, it will be a conference that hopefully will be able to put two or three teams into the NCAA Tournament.”
The Gauchos wrap up September with a rematch of last season’s Big West Semifinal, welcoming UC Irvine to Harder Stadium on Sept. 30 for Santa Barbara Soccer Club and Central Coast Academy Club Night.
UCSB then heads north to take on UC Davis on Oct. 4 before returning to Harder Stadium for two of thw final three home games.
The Gauchos will host defending Big West Champions UC Riverside on Oct. 7 for Elementary School Night and CSU Bakersfield on Oct. 11 for Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night.
UCSB and Cal Poly will meet for the second time on Oct. 15 in San Luis Obispo before the Gauchos play their home finale on Oct. 18 against Sacramento State.
The game against the Hornets will be UC Santa Barbara’s Senior Night, as the Gauchos’ final two games of the regular season are on the road, at CSUN on Oct. 21 and at Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 28.
The Big West Championships begin with the quarterfinal round on Nov. 1, with the semifinal round set for Nov. 4. The Big West Championship will be played on Nov. 11.
The quarterfinals will be hosted by the higher seed in each matchup, while the semifinals and championship will be hosted by the regular-season champion and No. 1 overall seed.
This season, UC Santa Barbara Soccer is selling one season ticket for all of the men’s and women’s games, giving fans the chance to catch all of the excitement for both teams in the race for a Big West Championship. These tickets will go on sale Wednesday, July 26.
Noozhawk Sports Writer Diego Sandoval contributed to this story.