Gaucho Basketball Preview (Forwards and Centers)

This is a preview on the really tall guys who have to get physical in the paint. You know who I am talking about, the big guys, forwards and centers.

The Forwards

With the Gauchos losing senior Jesse Byrd for the year, the front court will not be as deep as it was last year. In addition, the Gauchos lose Mr. Everything Chris Devine to graduation. With these two losses, the Gauchos will have to rely on sophomore Jaime Serna. Jaime played in all 31 games last year averaging 6.1 ppg and 3.6 rpg. He had a fantastic game vs. CSUF when he recorded 20 points and 8 rebounds. With Jesse being out, Jon Pastorek will play the five. He is a transfer from San Diego State. He is 6'9'' and will add a good perimeter shot and experience for the Gauchos. 7'3'' center Greg Somogyi will be a force down low this season blocking shots and rebounding. He had a great season blocking shots as a freshman recording 37 blocks!! Backups who will add depth are sophomore Sam Phippen, highly recruited freshman Lucas Devenny, and Orlando Johnson (featured in small forward preview) can also play the four.

It will be interesting how much of a factor Greg Somogyi plays and how the team will cope with the loss of Jesse Byrd. Though with the talent this team has, the front court just needs to play well.

#0 Jaime Serna

#6 UCSB Mens Soccer vs. CS Fullerton Titans

Coming off an a loss to CS Northridge, the Gauchos got back to where they belong last night as they defeated dirty, dirty state school CS Fullerton 2-0.

With the win last night, the Gauchos are now 11-3-1 and that is more than the total amount of wins last year.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute when David Walker sent the ball to teammate Waid Ibrahim who knew what to do with it and put it in the back of the net.

In the 33rd minute, Machael David sent a through ball to Walker who beat the Titan goalie to extend the lead to 2-0.

The crowd of 4,572 saw the home team get out shot by the Titans 13-12.

The Gauchos next game is on Wednesday vs. CS Northridge.

Stats:
Corner Kicks: CSF-3 UCSB-4
Fouls: CSF-8 UCSB-16 *The Gauchos always out foul every one! Keep playing dirty!

Mens Soccer Road Trip Recap

The Gauchos went on the road all over the state of California and posted a 2 win, 1 loss record.

The first game was nine days ago when the Gauchos traveled to UC Riverside to take on the Highlanders. The Gauchos started off with a bang in the first minute when David Walker scored his fifth goal of the year, tied for the team lead with Danny Barrera and Michael Nonni. Both teams didn't score the rest of the game and the Gauchos escaped with a 1-0 conference win to extend the win streak to four.

The second game was a complete lopsided victory. Danny Barrera scored twice and had an assist when Joe Eubanks scored his first career goal on the first shot of his collegiate career. The score stayed and the Gauchos won again in easy fashion over UC Davis 3-0.

The last game of the road trip wasn't so pretty. The Gauchos had a streak going of 542 minutes with out giving up a goal but then CS Northridge player Robert Pate struck a ball passed the Gaucho keeper for the 1-0 lead and eventually the win. The loss stopped the #3 UCSB winning streak at five games.

The Gauchos return to action this Saturday against Big West foe Cal State Fullerton at 7:00 p.m. at Harder Stadium. Be there or be square. First 1000 fans get free UCSB beanies!!!!!

Danny Barrera

Gaucho Basketball Preview (Small Forwards)

On Tuesday, I gave you a preview on the Gaucho guards. Today, I give you a preview on two of the most talented players in the conference, small forwards James Nunnally and Orlando Johnson.

The Small Forwards

The Gauchos will be returning big time scorer and clutch performer James Nunnally. As a freshman last year, he had a fantastic season averaging 7.9 points per game, third on the team. James had the biggest game of his life when he scored 22 points and recorded 7 rebounds against eventual national champ, and #1 team in the country, the North Carolina Tar Heels. He averaged 15.6 points per game and shot 62% from the field in the final five games. James will most likely play the three this year.

The other talented small forward the Gauchos will have is Orlando Johnson. He transferred from Loyola Marymount after averaging a team high 12.4 points per game. He is a big, athletic 6'5" former football player who is good at putting the ball on the floor and also shooting from the perimeter. He can play a three but with James Nunnally there, Orlando will most likely play an undersized four because of the season ending injury to Jesse Byrd.

With these two guys being such prolific scorers, the Gauchos are sure to go far in the Big West this year!

The next preview will be about the power forwards.

Go Gauchos!

James Nunnally

Gaucho Basketball Preview (The Guards)

With basketball season for the Gauchos all most here, thank god, I will be doing a series of previews of the upcoming 2009-2010 Men's basketball season. The first preview will be on the Gaucho's guards.

The Guards

The Gauchos are only losing one guard and that is defensive stopper D.J. Posley. The point guard position which produced a lot of turnovers last year will have starting point guard Justin Joyner back. Joyner was a leading assist man in the Big West during his freshman and sophomore years. He sat out last year due to a broken wrist. The shooting guard position will be held by senior three point shooter James Powell. James is one of the leading three point shooters in school history and has a career average of 10 points per game. The back up point guard duties will be held by senior Paul Roemer. Paul Roemer started 18 games last season. Then the combo guards are brothers Will and Chris Brew. They are very athletic and are solid defensive players with lots of scoring ability. The three point specialist off the bench is junior Jordan Weiner. He averaged 38% from three point range last year. The bench warming guards are newcomers Jacob Mercer (Santa Barbara City College) and Brad Lewis (Simi Valley HS).

The Gauchos are very excited with the return of point guard Justin Joyner and expect a big senior season from James Powell.

The next preview will be about the small forwards.

Go Gauchos!

Jesse Byrd done for year, UCSB career

UCSB power forward Jesse Byrd will not play his senior season due to a re-occurrence of a left knee injury that bothered him last year.

During the final minutes of the San Diego State game on Dec. 21st, Jesse suffered a torn lateral meniscus and sat the next six weeks out. He returned and played the rest of the season. During this past spring, Jesse started feeling pain again and had to have surgery for the second time on the knee. As of now, it ends Jesse Byrd's basketball career. tear, tear, tear.

"We fully support Jesse's decision," coach Bob Williams said. "We are saddened by the loss of a team-leader, both on and off the floor, but Jesse's long-term health is also our top priority. He will continue to be involved in the athletics department and with men's basketball throughout the 2009-2010 season."

Even though this is one of the toughest days for me in a while as a Gaucho fan, the hurt will most likely be healed by the return of PG Justin Joyner and the addition of transfers Orlando Johnson (Loyola Marymount) and Jon Pastorek (San Diego State). They will also have eight major contributors from 2008-09 and two talented freshman, Chris Brew and Lucas Devenny.

The Gauchos open their season up on November 14th at 7 p.m. vs. Cal State Los Angeles.

Go Gauchos and wish Jesse Byrd the best!!

#7 UCSB Mens Soccer vs. Cal Poly Mustangs

With the Big West Conference's premiere rivalry being played, the Gauchos took home the victory with a 1-0 win.

The Gauchos came running out of the gates like wild horses by taking four shots in the first eight minutes. Then the breakthrough came in the 30th minute when Michael Tetteh passed to fellow sophomore Luis Silva at the top of the box who scored his third goal of the year.

An odd situation happened when the Gaucho Locos like always throwed tortillas after the goal, the little whiners from Cal Poly complained about the tortillas. So all the players from both teams picked them up but the Locos, classy as always, kept throwing them. Take that you hippies!

UCSB out shot their arch rivals 22-8 and 9-5 on goal.

Cal Poly almost had a breakthrough in the 74th minute when Chris Gaschen fired it towards goal but Sam Hayden was there.

The Gauchos last three wins have all been shut outs!

The Gauchos resume action this Saturday at 7 p.m. vs UC Riverside.

Go Gauchos!

Key Stats:
Attendance: 5,842

Yellow Cards: CP-3 UCSB-4

Records after match: CP-4-7-0 UCSB- 8-2-1

Luis Silva

A Future Gaucho?

On a sunny afternoon in Santa Barbara, a middle school soccer game happened. It was between the visiting Mount Caramel Lancers and the Laguna Blanca Owls. The Owls won the game 5-0. They were led by Tyler Coady who scored two goals. He also had a few good crosses and was leader on the field. Those two goals were the first of his career. With the way that young kid played, he could be translating that to the Harder Stadium field one day. By the way, that kid is me.

Tyler Coady celebrates his goals!

Tyler looks for a pass!

2009 NCAA Champions?

After destroying #9 Indiana on Friday 3-0, this UCSB team looks like a true National Championship contender. They are 7-2-1 this year with wins over UC Irvine, Rutgers, West Virginia, Indiana, and even the U17 Mexican National team. They have so many attackers on the field, no wonder they average a whopping 2.3 goals per game. Then the central midfielders, Danny Barrera and Luis Silva, are two of the best in the country and they are only sophomores. The defense is an international frenzy with Englishmen Rob Hoyle, Swedish guy Martin Hedevag, and New Zealand man, 2008 Olympian Michael Boxall playing solid. The goalie duties are led by Sam Hayden whose defense is only giving up 1.1 goals per game. And of course, the legend, the man, the coach Tim Vom Steeg who has turned a laughing stock into one of the premiere programs in the country. With a relatively young team this year, he has transformed these young men into a team that is going to keep winning. With the way these Gauchos have played this year, this December the students of UCSB could be celebrating another National Championship in the streets of Isla Vista!

#11 UCSB Mens Soccer vs. #9 Indiana Hoosiers

With the school record of 10,114 fans and Fox Soccer Channel broadcasting the game, the Gauchos dominated the #9 team in the country by winning 3-0.

Early on though, it was all Indiana. They had three shots in the first three minutes and a couple of times should of had a goal.

After the super slow start, the Gauchos got it going. In the 39th minute, Michael Tetteh got the ball on the wing and went to town. He juked out Indiana defender Ofori Sarkodie and crossed the ball to a wide open, i mean wide open, Danny Barrera who put it in the back of the net. GOOOAAAALLLLL!!!!!

Then they took no time getting on the board again when Michael Nonni put a ball up field for Machael David who juked out the Hoosier goalie for the 2-0 lead. GOOOOOAAAALLLLLL!!!!

Nonni, who assisted on the second goal, got his share of scoring when he received a cross from Barrera and put it in the netting. GOOOAAAALLLLL!!

This win was the second Fox Soccer Channel game win for the Gauchos and the second win this week over a top 25 opponent.

The Gauchos resume to action this Saturday when they take on arch rival Cal Poly at Harder Stadium at 7:00 p.m. Be there or be square!

Go Gauchos and Beat Cal Poly!!!

Key Stats:
Shots: IU-11 UCSB-14
Shots on Goal: IU-6 UCSB-4
Record after game: IU-5/3/1 UCSB-7/2/1