Santa Barbara Derby (a.k.a. The Battle for State Street)
Westmont Warriors v. UCSB Gauchos - 8/22/09
It was a chamber of commerce evening at UCSB's Harder Stadium where a crowd of nearly 2400 fans was on hand for the annual crosstown tilt. It was just a beautiful sunset and the type of weather you could run all night.
It was great to see Montecito's finest well supported by a strong Westmont contingent. Old alums, such as Mike Walker were in the mix. While, Michael Thompson, Justin Sparks, Ryan Warner, and Sergio Hernandez were representing the younger alums well.
USCB has come along way from the Cliff Draeger era and give Coach Tim Vom Steeg lots of credit for not only taking the program to new heights but also for keeping it up there in the rarified air of a national championship caliber program. UCSB will host the 2010 College Cup.
The first half was a fairly even affair with the host holding a slight edge. Vom Steeg told me before the game he thinks he has the best midfield in the nation and the Warriors did themselves proud neutralizing the talented group. Westmont had a legit claim for a handball in the box against the Gauchos in the 25th minute but it went uncalled and the first half finished scoreless.
Wolfy said pre-game that surviving the early minutes was going to be key and they did that and more. The Warriors picked up right where they left off to start the final half and battled hard for the first 15 minutes of the second half and took the lead in the 60th minute. Daniel Guzman, just into the game 5 minutes earlier, broke free down the right and slotted for fellow substitute Ben Gordon to bury, 1-0.
UCSB pressed and their game began to flirt on the edge of desperation as Westmont held the lead till the 75th minute when the Warriors bend but don't break defense finally broke. Freshman GK matthew McNab made a nice save off his line only to see the ball take a fortunate carom at the top of the box for an open UCSB player to fire into the empty net, 1-1.
UCSB began to play on a tilted field to their advantage and took the lead for good in the 80th minute. The GWG was off a very good cross and picturesq header. The final tally in the 86th minute was a mazy, dribbling, slalom run against a tired - and diving in - defense with a neat finish to cap the scoring. When the dust cleared in a frantic final quarter hour, all that was left was a deserved 3-1 UCSB win.
Great effort for the boys and more than something to build on as the season opener is just a few days away (Westminster @ APU Cougar Classic - 8/27).
My takeaways from the match:
*The 2009 Warriors can truly play with anyone in the nation and have clearly maintained a high level of play we saw late last Fall.
*Secondly, this team has a resiliency about them that you can feel. To play the way they did after their performance against SBCC is clear indication of a team capable of learning and improving quickly.
*Wolfy played 8 off the bench and there's very little difference between starters and the other players. As Wolfy told before the match, there's a difference between 'squad depth' and 'squad rotation'.
Some individual notes...
*Hugo Pizano ran the midfield and will clearly have matches this season where he's the best player on the park.
*Dillon Barna is on the short list of top defenders in the region at any level
*Freshman Kameron Bechler showed a maturity beyond his years in the back and will be a strong contributor this season.
