Oct. 16, 2001

The Schedule
Match No. 13
Friday, October 19, 2001, 8:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. Utah State Aggies
at UCSB's Harder Stadium

Match No. 14
Sunday, October 21, 2001, 1:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. University of Idaho Vandals
at UCSB's Harder Stadium

The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters the week with an overall record of 5-6-1 and a Big West mark of 1-1. Since opening the season at 0-3, the Gauchos have gone 5-3-1. Interestingly, UCSB is 1-3-1 in home games, and a solid 4-3-0 in road games.

UCSB Splits Big West Opening Weekend
Opening weekend in Big West play was a mixed bag for the Gauchos. On Friday, UCSB won at Pacific, 2-1, and then on Sunday, they dropped a 2-0 decision at Cal State Northridge. The victory over Pacific was the third straight for the Gauchos over the Tigers. The loss to Cal State Northridge marked the first-ever league meeting between the two schools.

On The Stumpf
Paul Stumpf is in his third season at UC Santa Barbara. He enters this week's action with a record of 22-24-2. Last season, he guided UCSB to a 9-9-1 record, and within one game of the Big West Championship. 2000 marked the first time that UCSB had finished at or over the .500 mark since 1993. Two years ago, Stumpf's first at UCSB, he took a team that was selected to finish last in the conference, but instead posted an 8-9-1 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the Big West. Following the season, Stumpf was chosen as the Big West's Coach of the Year. Before arriving in Santa Barbara as an assistant coach in 1998, Stumpf spent two seasons as an assistant at Humboldt State. In addition, the San Diego native spent several years coaching club teams in the Santa Rosa area.

Borcich Continues To Shine
Freshman forward Jen Borcich scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season in Friday's win at Pacific. In addition to her five goals, Borcich has recorded four assists on the year, tying for the team lead. Her 14 total points not only leads the team by five, but it is six more than last year's team-leader Alex Richey had. In a September 28 win over Weber State, Borcich scored three goals, becoming the first Gaucho player in eight years to record a hat trick. Borcich, in fact, has scored all five of her goals in the last six contests.

More First-Year Standouts
Clearly, Borcich has emerged as UCSB's most potent offensive weapon, but even among the freshmen class, she is not alone. Midfielder Krystal Sandza ranks second on the team with four goals, and nine points. Sandza sent word early that she was going to be a force, scoring a pair of goals in the opener against the University of San Diego. Two other freshmen, Stephanie Thayer (one goal, two assists for four points) and Erin Griswold (one goal, one assist for two points), have also made contributions. Of UCSB's 19 goals on the season, 11 have come off the foot of freshmen.

Veterans Make Their Mark Too
While the Gaucho freshmen have been a key part of the offense, some of the veterans have raised their game a notch too. Junior midfielder Jen Codington has scored three goals and a pair of assists for eight points, while junior forward Erica Perrotta is currently tied for the team-lead with four assists, to go along with one goal. Four other veterans, Alex Richey, Kelsey Bollinger, Cinthia Ruiz, and Brianna Preis, have each scored one goal. Bollinger scored her first goal of the season in the second-half of Friday's win at Pacific, and it turned out to be the game-winner.

Gleason Emerges
Senior goalkeeper Mary Gleason has started to emerge lately, showing the form that earned her All-Big West honors last season. In Friday's win at Pacific, she was outstanding, recording a season-high 12 saves. In her last nine matches, she has allowed just eight goals, lowering her goals against average on the sesaon to 1.34. Gleason has 55 saves on the year adn a saver percentage of .809.