UCSB and Westmont have been playing each other in men’s soccer since 1965.
When the local teams square off Saturday at 7 p.m., in the annual Community Shield Game at Harder Stadium, it will mark the final time Westmont’s Dave Wolf coaches against the Gauchos.
Wolf announced earlier this year that this would be his last season at the helm. He’s guided the Warriors for 32 years.
“My starting mindset for this season is that it has been a great ride,” he said. “I couldn’t be any more grateful for what I’ve had the chance to experience, and now I feel like things have run their course.”
UCSB will be honoring Wolf on Saturday.
Under Wolf, Westmont has won eight times against UCSB, with two of those victories coming against the Tim Vom Steeg-coached Gauchos in 2000 and 2017.
Wolf brings an experienced young team into Harder Stadium against a veteran UCSB squad that recently was picked as a favorite to repeat as Big West champion. Westmont has three seniors, seven juniors and 10 sophomores who saw lots of action last season.
“The young players we have in the program have minutes behind them, and while those minutes came with a lot of lessons to be learned, they can now demonstrate what they learned and move forward.”
Westmont, a NAIA program that is moving to NCAA Division 2 next year, has the experience of playing a top-flight ] Division 1 program this month. The Warriors faced UCLA on Monday night and dropped a 2-0 decision.
Westmont’s squad features several local players. They include defender and senior captain Michael Palmer (San Marcos High), senior forward Owen Bates (San Marcos) junior midfielder Aldo Becerril (Dos Pueblos), sophomore midfielder Miguel Alvarado (Santa Barbara High), sophomore defender and the coach’s youngest son, J.J. Wolf (Santa Barbara), and freshman goalkeeper Diego Garcia (Dos Pueblos), forward Erik Guerrero (Santa Ynez), and defender Christian Jimenez (Dunn School).
UCSB counters with the Vom Steeg twins, Caden and Jaden, San Marcos alums, and Rene Pacheco out of Dunn School in Los Olivos.
The Gauchos enter the season with nearly their entire squad back from last year’s Big West championship and NCAA Tournament team. Among the returnees are Big West defensive MVP Henry Davies and first-team forward Finn Ballard McBride.
“We have extremely high expectations,” coach Vom Steeg of the season. “Our goal is to have a team that can go deep in the playoffs this year. The key for us was addressing the areas on the team where we did fall short last year.”