BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The Cal State Bakersfield men's soccer team will host 2006 NCAA Division I champion UC Santa Barbara in a spring exhibition game on Friday, April 20 at 7 p.m. Head Coach Simon Tobin announced Friday. A portion of the procceed will benefit the American Cancer Society.
The game is just another in a long series of exhibitions played by the Roadrunner soccer program to benefit charities, and few opponents could be more exciting for local fans to come and watch than the current national champions.
“Over the past 20 years, the men's soccer program has raised a considerable amount of money for charity,” Tobin said. “We are honored that UCSB as reigning Division I national champions have agreed to play an exhibition game at CSUB.”
The Gauchos entered the 2006 NCAA Soccer Tournament unseeded but ran through the postseason recording wins over San Diego State, SMU, Old Dominion and Northwestern to reach the NCAA Final Four. UCSB advanced to the national championship game on penalty kicks over Wake Forest after a 0-0 draw, and completed the run to the national title with a 2-1 regulation win over UCLA in the championship game.
Bakersfield finished the 2006 season with a 13-5-2 record and would have easily qualified for the NCAA Division II Far West Regionals if it weren't for the fact that the Roadrunners were in their first year of NCAA Division I play.
“I believe that CSUB would have been one of the top Division II programs in the country in 2006,” Tobin said. “As the program moves to Division I status, this match will give an indication as to how far we need to improve to be among the best in the country.”
In 1998, Bakersfield hosted UCLA at the Main Soccer Field in the spring following the Bruins winning the NCAA Division I national title and the Roadrunners winning the NCAA Division II title. The match, which drew 1,362 fans despite miserable rainy weather, ended in a 1-1 draw.
The crowd was the third-largest to watch a Roadrunner soccer match and also benefited the American Cancer Society.
