Feb. 13, 2004

Santa Barbara, Calif. - It is announced today that Major League Soccer's (MLS) Los Angeles Galaxy and San Jose Earthquakes will be playing a preseason match at UC Santa Barbara's Harder Stadium on Friday, March 12, 2004 at 7:00 p.m. Both teams will be traveling full squads in preparation for their regular season openers on April 3rd.

UCSB will host two of the top teams in the MLS in what looks to become an annual preseason event. The March 12th match will feature the MLS Cup Champions from each of the past two seasons. The Galaxy captured the MLS title in 2002, while the Quakes will be entering Harder Stadium as the defending MLS Champions.

Los Angeles and San Jose bring with them some of the top professional and international soccer players in the United States. LA's roster includes MLS scoring champion Carlos Ruiz and US Olympic Team Member Ricky Lewis. And the Quakes roster includes US International Superstar Landon Donovan who is considered by most to be United States' top soccer player. However, it is unclear as to which of the US National Team members will be playing in the match in Santa Barbara depending upon national team duties.

The match also has the potential to feature a pair of former Gauchos. UCSB's Memo Arzate and David McGill, who were both drafted by the Galaxy in last month's Superdraft, are still vying for spot on LA's final roster after the first two weeks of training camp.

Pre-order tickets sales and ticket requests can be made by calling the UCSB men's soccer office at 805-893-3473, or by emailing menssoccer@athletics.ucsb.edu, attention MLS tickets. Tickets can also be purchased starting the week of February 16th and up to the day of the event at Soccer Action, 270 Storke Road in Goleta, and at Soccer Central on Milpas Street in downtown Santa Barbara. Tickets can be purchased the day of the event at the Harder Stadium ticket booth. Prices for the match are $12 for adults and $8 dollars for children 14 and under. Sorry, only cash and checks can be accepted.