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John Zant: Soccer has center stage during All-Gaucho Reunion |
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By John Zant
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Sunday, April 29 2007 |
UCSB has some very good soccer alumni, but they were no match for the Gauchos' reigning national champions in an exhibition game Saturday at Harder Stadium.
Andrew Proctor scored three goals in the first half as the Gauchos shellacked their predecessors by a score of 8-0. Although the 2007 season opener is four months away, Tim Vom Steeg's new team appeared sharp in the springtime workout.
There were a lot of familiar faces on the pitch. Only four seniors are graduating from the team that defeated UCLA 2-1 last December in St. Louis. Among the returning players are sophomores Nick Perera and Eric Avila, who scored UCSB's goals in the championship game.
A crowd that did not have the pleasure of experiencing the 15-degree weather at St. Louis watched Saturday's soccer action in mild temperatures. Among them were a number of alumni who converged on the campus for the first annual All-Gaucho Reunion.
The reunion, staged by the UCSB Alumni Association, is an attempt to link former students to an alma mater that does not have a traditional homecoming game. The multifaceted event included lectures, tours, concerts and catered receptions.
The soccer team received medallions at an afternoon assembly in the new Intercollegiate Athletics Building, the future site of the Phil Womble Hall of Champions.
"We're going to be very good again next season," promised junior defender Greg Curry.
There was an earlier soccer game between two teams of older alums. It involved a lot of huffing and puffing. Tony DePaco, a 68-year-old midfielder, played for the Blue team that defeated the Gold 3-2. DePaco, one of the founders of AYSO in Santa Barbara, got a business economics degree from UCSB in 1972.
"I've got to take some Advil," DePaco said. "I haven't touched a soccer ball in 15 years. My feet are killing me."
Andy Kuenzli, who coached both men's and women's soccer at UCSB in the '80s, was on the sideline. He now runs a banking software business in his native Switzerland. Kuenzli recalled that his teams had to struggle for support and recognition.
"We were always the underdogs," he said. "We had to fight our administration and the NCAA. Our travel budget was $250 for the year. Most of it went for gas. We slept on floors in parents' homes and made our own sandwiches."
Kuenzli's teams in 1982 and '83 won 29 games and lost only five, but they were snubbed by the committee that selected 16 teams for the NCAA tournament. There are 48 in the postseason now.
Other former coaches on hand included Steve Arnold and Alan Meeder. Arnold was a player-coach on UCSB's first soccer club, which went undefeated in 1965. Meeder guided the Gauchos in the late '70s.
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS: UCSB hosted Cal Poly in a track and field meet. The Gaucho men and Poly women won the team scoring. The men's 1,500 meters was a sizzling race. Gaucho senior Mike Chavez shaved three seconds off the school record with a time of 3:43.80, and he was runner-up to Cal Poly's Philip Reid (3:43.00). That was a four-minute mile pace. Senior thrower Amy Haapanen continued her strong season for the Gaucho women. She won the discus (166 feet, 3 ½ inches), shot put (40-10 ½) and hammer (210-10 ¾). … The Gaucho men's tennis team won its second consecutive Big West championship by defeating top-seeded Cal Poly 4-2 at Indian Wells. UCSB, seeded third, also knocked off No. 2 UC Irvine … SBCC's baseball team clinched its first Western State Conference title in 35 years. A 6-5 victory over Oxnard raised the Vaqueros' record to 32-7 overall, 18-4 in the WSC … Santa Barbara High tightened the Channel League race by handing Dos Pueblos its first league loss, 4-0, behind the pitching of Crosby Slaught … Carpinteria can clinch at least a tie for the Frontier League baseball crown with a win over visiting Grace Brethren on Wednesday … Toby Bailey (35 points) and Billy Knight (17 points, 15 rebounds) led the Santa Barbara Breakers to a 128-115 victory over the Chico Force in International Basketball League action. The Breakers (3-3) will host the Phoenix Flame on Friday and Saturday nights at the SBCC Sports Pavilion. |
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