What 2 Watch 4
It’s time to kickoff the 2024 season as nine of the 10 Big West sides take to the pitch on Thursday, Aug. 22 for their openers.
Three teams are schedule to play ranked opponents to ring in the season. Defending Big West regular season champion Cal State Fullerton heads East to face No. 8 Marshall. UC Irvine, the preseason Big West favorites and the winners of last year’s conference championship, head to the Pacific Northwest to take on No. 4 Oregon State. CSUN hosts No. 18 James Madison.
The other six games on Thursday are Utah Valley at Sacramento State, Santa Clara at UC San Diego, Utah Tech at Cal State Bakersfield, Missouri State at UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly at San Francisco and UC Davis at Pacific. UC Riverside will open its season on Friday, Aug. 23 at San Diego State.
Seven teams will play a second game of the week on Sunday, with two ranked opponents on the slate. CSUN heads to No. 11 LMU and UC San Diego welcomes No. 20 Duke to Triton Soccer Stadium.
The other four contests on Sunday’s schedule are Utah Valley at UC Davis, Sacramento State at Cal, Cal State Bakersfield at San Jose State, Cal State Fullerton at Xavier and Cal Poly at Saint Mary’s.
This week, a total of 11 contests are set to air on ESPN+, The Big West’s exclusive broadcast rights holder.
Preseason Prognostics
UC Irvine is favored to win The Big West according to the 2024 Big West Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
The Anteaters (9-7-4, 5-3-1 BW) earned four first-place votes for a total of 75 points. The coaches also voted on an 11-person Preseason All-Big West squad. Three Anteaters were featured on the team in senior trio of midfielder Francesco Montanile, goalkeeper Luke Pruter and defender Mathias Winum. Last season, Montanile tallied one goal and four assists for UCI. Pruter was selected with the last pick in the 2023 MLS Draft but decided to forgo the opportunity and return for the Anteaters. The goalie sported a 1.04 goals-against average and was part of eight shutouts en route to an All-Big West Second-Team selection in 2023. Winum was part of the Anteater back line that had a 1.05 goals-against average and placed on the all-conference first-team list.
Defending regular season champion Cal State Fullerton (12-5-3, 6-2-1 BW) was picked to finish second, earning three first-place votes for 66 points. The Titans earned three spots on the preseason team in senior forward Sulaiman Bah, senior forward Roberto Ordonez and senior midfielder Erick Serrano. All three were members of the 2023 All-Big West First Team. Last year, Bah compiled eight goals and two assists, Ordonez was the Offensive Player of the Year scoring nine goals and dishing out 10 assists, and Serrano was the Midfielder of the Year with four goals and eight assists.
UC Santa Barbara (10-8-2, 4-3-2 BW) earned the remaining three first-place votes for 65 points to come in third in the poll. The Gauchos took three slots on the preseason team in senior midfielder Mikkel Goeling, senior forward Alexis Ledoux and senior midfielder Nemo Philipp. Last year, Goeling produced four goals and three assists to earn a spot on the All-Big West First Team. Ledoux was also a first-team performer in 2023 with four goals and two assists. Phillip was an Honorable Mention selection with five goals and four assists last season.
UC Davis (56), Cal Poly (51), CSUN (41), UC Riverside (31), UC San Diego (29), Cal State Bakersfield (18) and Sacramento State (18) round out the rest of the poll. UC Davis junior forward Cason Goodman and CSUN senior Marley Edwards take the final two spots on the preseason team. Last season, Goodman recorded seven goals and three assists to earn All-Big West Second-Team distinction. Edwards appeared in 18 games and made 12 starts for the Matadors in 2023.
The Greatest Rivalry on ESPNU
The Big West will be part of the robust men’s soccer linear broadcasting coverage on the ESPN family networks. On Sunday, Oct. 6, UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer welcomes Cal Poly to Harder Stadium for an ESPNU broadcast scheduled for a 4 p.m. start.
Heralded as “The Greatest Rivalry in College Soccer”, the UC Santa Barbara-Cal Poly matchup has produced five of the top 10, and 17 of the top 25, largest regular season crowds in NCAA men’s soccer history. The two schools play each other twice per season and will meet earlier in a non-conference game on Saturday, Sept. 28. The Mustangs’ last win in the rivalry came in 2018, with the Gauchos holding a 7-1-2 record in the matchup during that time.
2023 Rewind
The 2023 Big West men’s soccer season saw Cal State Fullerton (12-5-3) win the regular season title with a 6-2-1 league record and earn the top seed in the conference championship.
No. 2 seed UC Irvine (9-7-4, 5-3-1 BW) won The Big West Championship for the fifth time in program history with a 2-1 victory in the semifinals over No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara and 8-7 penalty kick advantage against No. 4 seed UC Davis.
The Anteaters fell to LMU in the opening round of the NCAA Championship, 4-2. The Lions would evneutally advance all the way to the Elite Eight.
TopDrawerSoccer Rankings
Three Big West players are featured in the TopDrawerSoccer’s National Top 100 Players rankings. Roberto Ordonez, Cal State Fullerton offensive powerhouse, tops the list at No. 26. UC Irvine goalkeeper Luke Pruter is slotted at No. 41 and Cal State Fullerton midfielder Errick Serrano is slotted at No. 53.
Two Big West players were placed on TopDrawerSoccer’s Preseason Best XI Teams. Ordonez was a third team honoree and Sacramento State’s Ethan Kelly is a member of the all-freshman team.
2024MLS Draft
In December 2023, CSUN forward Jamar Ricketts and UC Irvine goalkeeper Luke Pruter were selected in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Ricketts was picked with the 13th overall pick in the first round by the San Jose Earthquakes and Pruter’s name was called by the Columbus Crew with the 87th overall selection in the third round.
The draftees were the 54th and 55th Big West men’s soccer players, respectively, to be picked in the history of the MLS SuperDraft.
Ricketts became the 11th Matador to be selected and the third CSUN player ever to be chosen in the first round. The Montclair, N.J. product had a banner season for the Matadors in 2023, being named to the All-Big West First Team and All-Far West Region Second Team, scoring a career-high eight goals and dishing out five assists. Ricketts led the nation in shot on goal percentage at a .622 clip. The three-year Matador was a member of the All-Big West First Team and All-Far West Region Second Team in 2022 and Big West All-Freshman Team selection in 2021.
Pruter is the ninth Anteater to be selected in the MLS SuperDraft. The Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. native was a wall for the UC Irvine defense in 2023, compiling 51 saves for a .708 save percentage and 1.04 goals-against average, en route to an All-Big West Second Team and All-Far West Region Second Team honors. Pruter helmed the Anteaters from the cage to the 2023 Big West Championship title, including making the game-winning penalty kick save to clinch the crown. The goalie spent three years at UC Irvine, amassing 143 starts over the course of 45 games, and decided to return for a fourth and final season.
