Nov. 22, 2003

Santa Barbara, Calif. - With a fifth regular season under his belt entering this Wednesday's NCAA Tournament Second Round match against Cal, UC Santa Barbara head men's soccer coach Tim Vom Steeg is now officially the one of the 50 winningest coaches in the 44-year history of Division I men's soccer. Having met the minimum five-season minimum when he coached his 100th career match in the Gauchos' regular season finale at UC Irvine last weekend, Vom Steeg's winning percentage of .680 now qualifies as the 37th best mark all-time. UCSB has gone 65-29-6 with Vom Steeg at the helm, making him the 16th winningest active coach in Division I right now.

A major role in Vom Steeg's success has been a result of hiring assistant coach Leo Chappel before the 2001 season. In each of his three seasons as the Gauchos' second-in-command Chappel has been recognized by College Soccer News as one of the top assistants in NCAA men's soccer, most recently receiving the award this past week. Since joining the UCSB staff, Santa Barbara has gone a combined 44-12-5, including a 26-4-3 mark in games played at home in Harder Stadium.

In the past three seasons, Vom Steeg, Chappel, and goalkeeper coach Ryan Sparre, have guide the Gauchos to two Big West Conference Championships and two NCAA Tournaments. In the tenure of Chappel and Vom Steeg they have coached three All-Americans (Memo Arzate, Rob Friend, Alan Keely), five conference players of the year (Rob Friend-2, Memo Arzate, Reuben Bates, Dan Kennedy), and three NSCAA All-Far West Region honorees (Rob Friend, Memo Arzate, Drew McAthy).

When the NCAA Tournament pairings were announced on Monday, November 17th, the Gauchos achieved another first in receiving first round bye and No. 11 seeding the 48-team field. UCSB will play that second round match this Wednesday, November 26th against the University of California at 7:00 p.m. in Harder Stadium. The Golden Bears earned the right to face the Gauchos by winning their first round match against San Jose State. Wednesday night's showdown will be a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament Second Round for both teams. In 2002 Cal defeated UCSB 2-1 in Berkeley, but the Gauchos hope this year's outcome will be different as this time they will face the Golden Bears on their home turf in Harder Stadium.

For ticketing information please call 805-893-UCSB or log onto www.ucsbgauchos.com for more information on Wednesday's NCAA Tournament Second Round match at UC Santa Barbara's Harder Stadium.