It was a packed house at Peabody Stadium on Friday night, but it wasn’t to support the Santa Barbara High Dons, it was to cheer on a soccer clash between the UC Santa Barbara men’s team and CF América’s Under 20 squad.
Despite a lopsided score that saw the Gauchos win 4-0, smiles and cheers were spread throughout the crowd of nearly 300 people gathered to watch the international friendly match.
CF América plays its home games in Mexico City at the historic Estadio Azteca.
“We got a really great crowd tonight, especially being down here at Santa Barbara High, we got a lot of people that maybe haven’t really seen us play so this was fun,” UCSB Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg said after the game.
Vom Steeg said he and the team usually try to schedule an international match once a year. In the past, the Gauchos have taken on Mexican clubs U17, U20 and similar teams.
“It’s really great to get a different style of play,” Vom Steeg said. “Anytime we get a chance to come down here and play and have different people watch UCSB soccer it’s a win, and it’s always good to play somebody from a different style.”
UCSB’s sophomore midfielder Filip Basili was the man of the match on Friday, netting two goals during the team’s 4-0 victory — both of which came in the second half.
Basili’s first goal came in the 78th minute — with UCSB leading 2-0 — after a great pass from fellow midfielder Isaiah Barber, who was running down the left corner of the field.
Basili controlled the pass on the left side of the box and after a swift touch, he swung his left foot and found the right top corner of the net to give his team a commanding 3-0 lead.
Six minutes later, Basili again controlled the ball with one touch and this time, found the top left corner of the net to give his team the final goal of the night.
“My touch felt very good today so I always had a lot of space. I missed the first couple of chances but I still kept my confidence and then with those two shots I just put them to the corners away from the keeper and that’s what I needed,” Basili said.
The other two goals were scored by Kavi Krishnan and David Danquah, who left the match with a leg injury.
Basili noted that Friday was also the team’s last day of Finals week at UC Santa Barbara.
“We found out about this match about a month ago and with spring break starting tomorrow, we were actually super excited to end the winter with a good game against a good under-20 club,” Basili said.
“It’s fun for us, but it is also a great opportunity for the kids to come out and watch us have fun. It is a great event.”
Basili noted the difference between the two teams on Friday was the strength and size of UCSB. That led the Gauchos to 14 shots, the majority of which were on goal, compared to América’s three shots.
“Obviously they’re under 20, so we got size on them, but they’re professionals. A lot of those young kids are on professional contracts, so we went in with the attitude of seeing this as a great opportunity to prepare for our season,” he said.
Though his team lost, América’s U20 coach Mauricio Gallaga Valdez said the games are important because they help teach the young kids and give them experience against a tough opponent.
“This serves for us as an experience for our league, for future competitions and to find a way for them to know they did the best they could and continue doing the best we could when we get back to our matches,” Gallaga Valdez said.
“We don’t want to lose, but that’s soccer and what we are more interested in is forming them as players and us as coaches finding the best strategy for the team.”
Vom Steeg noted that his team has 15 seniors returning, so he believes they will be ready as the fall rapidly approaches.
“It’s a fun team to coach, it feels like we are further ahead because we have so many seniors returning,” Vom Steeg said. “We played well tonight and I am glad, it’s a great way to send these guys off for their spring break.”