David Elias, who has been serving as the goalkeeper coach for the UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer team since 2018, has been promoted to an assistant position on the staff, head coach Tim Vom Steeg said on Monday.
“Over the last two years, David has done an excellent job as goalkeeper’s coach and we now feel he’s in a position to assume even more responsibility as our second assistant,” remarked Vom Steeg.
Under the tutelage of Elias, UCSB goalkeeper Ben Roach earned the Big West Freshman Player of the Year award after his rookie year in 2018 and followed with a selection to the All-Big West Second Team. Roach recorded 12 shutouts on the year, putting him into a tie for third place on the program’s all-time single-season shutout list, on par with Kyle Reynish’s 2006 campaign.
Elias served as an assistant and goalkeeping coach at Servite High School while also coaching club soccer with the CDA Slammers FC in both Huntington and Newport Beach.
Elias was a standout goalkeeper at Cal State Fullerton from 2014-16, anchoring a Titans’ team that won back-to-back Big West Tournament titles in 2014 and 2015. In 2015, he was recognized as the Big West Tournament MVP after tallying eight saves in two matches, including five in a shutout win in the final.
Following his collegiate career, Elias had stints playing with the Thunder Bay Chill of the Player Development League (PDL) and Phoenix Rising of the United Soccer League (USL).