Nov. 4, 2003

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The Schedule
Match No. 20
Big West Tournament - First Round
Friday, November 7, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. (Approximate)
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos vs. UC Riverside Highlanders
at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Field

Match No. 21
Big West Tournament - Championship Match
Sunday, November 9, 2003 at 1:00 p.m.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos/UC Riverside Highlanders vs. Cal Poly Mustangs/UC Irvine Anteaters
at Cal State Fullerton's Titan Field

The Gaucho Record
UC Santa Barbara enters the Big West Tournament with an overall record of 10-5-4. The Gauchos finished their league schedule with a record of 5-2-2 and a second-place finish. With ten wins, UCSB has now recorded three straight seasons with double-digit victory totals for the first time since 1989-91.

On The Stumpf
Paul Stumpf is in his fifth season at UC Santa Barbara. He enters this week's action with a record of 51-35-9. He has led the Gauchos to three consecutive seasons of double-figures in wins, the first time the program has accomplished the feat since 1989-91. Last season, he guided UCSB to an 13-5-2 record, and within one game of the Big West Championship. 2002 marked the third 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.

UCSB Streaks Into League Tournament
UCSB enters its first round match at the Big West Tournament with a four-match winning streak and a five-match unbeaten streak. The Gauchos have recorded consecutive wins over Utah State, Idaho, Cal State Northridge and Pacific. The unbeaten stretch began on October 19 when UCSB tied Cal Poly, 2-2. Interestingly, the first round match against UC Riverside will be a rematch with the last team to beat the Gauchos. On October 12, the Highlanders won in Santa Barbara by a 2-0 score. In that match, UCSB outshot UCR by a 28-8 count, but could not find the back of the net.

The Numbers Added-Up In The End
The numbers really did add-up during UCSB's four-match winning streak to close the regular season. Over the four wins, the Gauchos outscored their opponents 16-1. The only goal allowed over the four-match span was scored late in Sunday's match against Utah State when the Gauchos already led 4-0. Also in the last four matches, UCSB outshot its opponents by an 89-35 margin. If you include the Gauchos' tie with Cal Poly, UCSB has scored 18 goals in the last five matches, an average of 3.6 per outing. In the five matches prior to the final five, the Gauchos scored just four goals, an average of 0.80 per outing. Overall, UCSB has outscored its opposition this season, 45-17.

Borcich Has Her Own Streak
Junior forward Jennifer Borcich, the leading goal-scorer in the Big West, finished the season a bit of a roll. She has 11 goals and seven assists on the year for a total of 29 points, but she has scored one goal in each of the last five matches. Last year, Borcich also closed the season on a strong note, scoring in seven consecutive contests before the finale. In her career, the Sacramento, Calif., native has now tallied 39 goals and 21 assists for 99 points, fourth on UCSB's all-time list. Finally, with 11 goals on the year, Borcich joined four-time All-American Carin Jennings as the only players in school history to record three consecutive seasons with double-digit goal totals.

Krystal Klear
Junior midfielder Krystal Sandza has matched Borcich's goal total of 11. She also has five assists to give her a total of 27 points. Sandza scored a goal in each of UCSB's final two regular season contests. She enters postseason play with career totals of 43 goals and 16 assists for 102 points. Sandza ranks third all-time in goals and points. In fact, she is just one of three players in school history to score 40 or more career goals and over the weekend she became the third player to eclipse the 100 point mark.

Balancing Act
In 2002, UCSB scored 57 goals in 20 matches, 42 of which (73.7%) were scored by Sandza and Borcich. The other 15 goals were scored by just six other players. Through 19 matches in 2003, the Gauchos have scored 45 goals, 22 of which (48.9%) have been scored by Borcich and Sandza and 23 of which (51.1%) have been scored by 11 other players. In addition to the 11 goal totals of the big two, three Gauchos, forwards Randi Johns, Allie Kueny and Alma Martinez, have scored four goals apiece and three others, Darci Gwartz, Morgan Tanner and Alex Richey, have scored two apiece.

Con Job
Sophomore goalkeeper Jamie Considine has started all 19 matches this season. She finished the regular season having logged 330 consecutive scoreless minutes. Considine has seen her goals against average drop to 0.83, the lowest it has been since the third match of the season. She has 68 saves this season after producing 70 last year. In fact, Considine's career goals against average entering the Big West Tournament has dropped below 1.00 and it stands at 0.97, the third lowest in school history.