Sept. 4, 2008

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Sophomore Bongomin Otii and freshman Danny Barrera have both been cleared to play beginning Friday for the No. 7 UC Santa Barbara men's soccer team after each had suffered knee injuries.

Otii, who redshirted last season after a successful freshman campaign, wasn't expected back until later this month, but the 6-foot, 205-pound forward has impressed the coaches with his recent practices.

"He looks really sharp," Head Coach Tim Vom Steeg said.

Otii, a Denver, Colo. native, started his Gaucho career off with a bang, registering five goals in his first five games, the first player in program history to do so. As a freshman he appeared in 24 of UCSB's 25 games and finished the year with 13 points.

Barrera, a PARADE All-American and one of the nation's top recruits, will don the blue and gold for the first time in his collegiate career. The 5-foot-7 midfielder was a two-time NSCAA/adidas Youth All-American and a member of the U-18 and U-17 Men's National Teams. Barrera, who was born in Bogota, Colombia but hails from Thousand Oaks, was expected to finally be cleared for the Kentucky game.

Friday's contest will be televised by Fox Soccer Channel and online at foxsoccer.tv in a match-up of the 1-0-0 Gauchos and the 2-0-0 Wildcats. The game will also be broadcast on KCSB 91.9 FM and streaming online at kcsb.org.

-- UCSBGauchos.com --