Nov. 2, 2004

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The Schedule
Match No. 20
Friday, November 5, 2004 at 5:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. Cal State Northridge Matadors
at UC Irvine's Anteater Field

Match No. 21
Sunday, November 7, 2004 at 1:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara/Cal State Northridge winner vs. Cal Poly/Cal State Fullerton winner
at UC Irvine's Anteater Field

Weekend Sweep Gives UCSB First Regular Season Title
Weekend road wins at Idaho (1-0) and Utah State (2-1) gave UC Santa Barbara a share of the 2004 Big West women's soccer regular season championship, its first ever. The Gauchos finish the league season with a 7-1-1 record, tied for the top spot with Cal State Fullerton, which also finished at 7-1-1. While the teams tied for the regular season crown, by virtue of its 1-0 shutout win over the Titans on October 8, the UCSB will enter the league tournament on Friday as the top-seed. The Gauchos will play Cal State Northridge in the first round on Friday while Cal State Fullerton takes on the league's defending champion, Cal Poly, in the other first round match. UCSB has a 2-0-1 record against the tourney field this year. The Gauchos defeated Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Northridge by identical 1-0 scores, and they battled to a scoreless tie with Cal Poly.

The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters the weekend with an overall record of 12-5-2 and a 7-1-1 record in the Big West. This past weekend, the Gauchos swept matches at Idaho (1-0) and Utah State (2-1) to extend their winning streak to three in a row. Since opening the 2004 season with a 1-3 record, the Gauchos have posted a solid 11-2-2 mark. This marks the fourth straight season in which UCSB has won ten or more games, the first time the program put together four straight double-digit victory seasons since 1988-91. The seven wins in Big West play is the highest in program history.

The Big West Tournament: A Short History
UCSB will be making it second appearance in the Big West Tournament. Ironically, this is the second Big West Tournament. Last season, the Gauchos edged UC Riverside 3-2 in the first round of the tournament and then were blanked 2-0 by Cal Poly in the championship match.

On The Stumpf
Paul Stumpf is in his sixth season at UC Santa Barbara. He enters the Big West Tournament with a record of 64-41-11. His total of 64 wins ranks second on UCSB's all-time list. He has led the Gauchos to four consecutive seasons of double-figures in wins, the first time the program has accomplished the feat since 1988-91. Last season, he guided UCSB to an 11-6-4 record, and within one game of the Big West Championship. 2003 marked the fourth straight season in which the Gauchos finished at or over the .500 mark, a feat last accomplished more than a decade ago. In 1999, Stumpf's first season as the head coach 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 Completing Her Career In Style
Senior forward Jennifer Borcich seems to be closing out her UCSB career in style. Borcich had a hand in all three Gaucho goals over the weekend, leading the team to a pair of wins that meant the program's first-ever regular season title. On Friday, she scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Idaho, and on Sunday at Utah State, she assisted on a goal by Lindsay Steinriede and then she scored the game-winning goal in the 79th minute. Borcich enters the Big West Tournament as the team and league-leader in goals with 12. She also has five assists for a total of 29 points. Of her 12 goals on the season, seven have been game-winners. In her career, Borcich has now collected 53 goals and 26 assists for 132 points. She ranks third in goals and points and is tied for fifth all-time in assists. Additionally, she is one of just two players in school history, four-time All-American Carin Jennings is the other, to have scored ten or more goals in all four of her seasons.

Balancing Act
Borcich is clearly UCSB's offensive leader, but she has had some help this season. In all, ten different Gauchos have scored goals in 2004, seven have scored two or more, and three have four or more. In addition to Borcich, sophomore Allie Kueny has tallied five goals and senior Randi Johns has notched four. Johns is second on the team with 14 points. Kueny and sophomore forward Chandi Bickford each have 13 points. Bickford leads the team with nine assists, the most by a UCSB player since 2002. Probably the team's most improved offensive player, Bickford has also contributed a pair of goals.

On The Defensive
Through the first four matches this season, UCSB had allowed ten goals. In fact, through the first five, the Gauchos had allowed 12 goals. In the last 14 matches, however, Santa Barbara has allowed just six total goals and posted eight shutouts. Gaucho defenders Cinthia Ruiz, Katie Cooper, Jessie Steinberg and Molly Martin have played a major role in the team's defensive turnaround, as have goalkeepers Jamie Considine and Catherine Burson. In the last 14 contests, the Gauchos have produced eight shutouts, allowed just six goals, and they have not allowed more than one goal in any match. In fact, over the last 14 contests, a span of 1,319 minutes, UCSB has posted a goals against average of 0.41 and it has lowered its overall goals against average to 0.91 for the season.

One-Two Punch In Goal
The healthy return of junior goalkeeper Jamie Considine has given Santa Barbara a solid one-two goal keeping punch. After missing three matches because of injury, Considine has started the last four matches, going 3-1-0 with a pair of shutouts over that span. In her career, Considine has now recorded 23 shutouts, second on the school's all-time list. On the season, she has now started 13 matches, gone 9-3-1, posted six shutouts, and has lowered her individual goals against average to 1.00. While she was out for three matches, Considine was ably replaced by freshman Catherine Burson who went 2-0-1 and allowed just one goal in 307 minutes. In a 0-0 double overtime tie with Cal Poly, Burson weathered 40 shots on goal to get the shutout. In her seven total appearances this season, including six starts, Burson has played 599:24 minutes and allowed just four goals for a 0.60 goals against average. She has come-up with 27 saves and three complete shutouts.