The Bay Area’s Division 1 men’s soccer programs are wrapping up their exhibition schedules this week and preparing to welcome back fans for the first time since late 2019. Check local county regulations to see whether masks are required—or just strongly encouraged.
Many of their most experienced players have returned because the NCAA granted an additional year of eligibility for student-athletes who had competed while eligible in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 spring season.
Stanford is Ready to Contend for Another National Championship
Stanford fans have high expectations after having earned a berth in the NCAA College Cup in four of the past six seasons. They open the season ranked #8 in the United Soccer Coaches’ Top 25 preseason poll and were selected by Pac-12 coaches as the favorite to win the conference crown again this year.
Last April, the Cardinal won the Pac-12 title in dramatic fashion on Zach Ryan’s overtime goal in the final regular season match at home vs. Washington. But the Cardinal went out earlier than usual in the NCAA tournament, losing 1-0 to North Carolina in the round of 16.
Ryan is the current Pac-12 Player of the year and one of nine starters returning from last year’s squad. This core is augmented by the return of Ousseni Bouda, the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, who sat out last season with injury. The Cardinal will need to replace a few key performers, including goalkeeper Andrew Thomas, who signed with the Seattle Sounders. Four goalkeepers played in the Cardinal’s preseason opener vs. CSU Bakersfield, with sophomore Eliot Jones earning the start.
The Cardinal open the regular season at SMU on Thursday.
Saint Mary’s Hopes to Overcome Last Season’s Disappointment
Saint Mary’s was left out of the NCAA tournament earlier this year after winning back-to-back WCC titles in 2018 and 2019 and being ranked in the Top 25 for most of the season. Losses in their final two regular season matches to the University of the Pacific and conference champion Loyola Marymount were fatal to their tournament hopes. Loyola also topped this season’s WCC’s Preseason Coaches Poll, with the Gaels finishing second.
The Gaels return most of their key players from last season, including Sebastian Schacht, who was named to the Preseason All-WCC team. Other key returnees include goalkeeper Nicholas Lapinid, defenders Christian Engmann, Louis Sterobo, and Boyd Curry, midfielder Valentin Kurz, and forward Andrew Rotter.
They will need to find a replacement for Lucas Andrews whose four goals last season were tied for second in the WCC. The Gaels have brought in 10 new recruits to complete for playing time on this season’s squad.
The Gaels host Cal in their regular season opener on Thursday, the Golden Bears’ first regular season visit to Moraga since 2003.
Cal Faces Tough Pac-12 Competition
The California Golden Bears had an up-and-down season last winter, hampered by COVID restrictions and a schedule that saw them open against three teams ranked in the top ten: Stanford, Washington, and Oregon State. The Bears recovered to post a 4-5-1 record and finished in fourth place behind the three conference heavyweights, including a 1-0 home win over Oregon State, then the #3 ranked team in the country.
This season the Golden Bears return to Goldman Field at Edwards Stadium, after playing last season’s home matches behind closed doors at Witter Rugby Field.
Cal will need to find a replacement for Tommy Williamson, who was chosen 12th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft by the San Jose Earthquakes. Other key losses include defender Christopher Grey (a first team All Pac-12 selection) and midfielder Francisco Perez (second team).
Key returnees include goalkeeper Collin Travasos; defenders JJ Foe Nuphaus and Ian Lonergan; midfielder Evan Davila; and forwards Jonathan Estrada and Alonzo Del Mundo, who was selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region second team. New to the program this season is Japanese midfielder/forward Shoei Honda, who led his Teikyo Nagaoka High School team to third place in the 2020 All-Japan High School Soccer Tournament and trained with Dutch clubs Feyenoord Rotterdam and FC Groningen.
The Bears take on Saint Mary’s in their regular season opener on Thursday.
Santa Clara Returns Most of Its Key Players
Santa Clara got off to a rough start last season, opening their schedule with matches against the top two teams in the WCC: Loyola Marymount and Saint Mary’s. But the Broncos recovered to win their final three matches and end the season with a 4-4 record.
All of the Broncos’ goalscorers from last season return, including Javier Ruiz Duran, a four-time all-West Coast Conference selection who scored 2 goals and led the team with 3 assists last season. Other key returnees include goalkeeper Andreu Cases Mundet, midfielders Alejandro Barajas and Caden Buckley, and forward Oladayo Thomas, who led the team with 4 goals last season.
The Broncos brought in a three-member recruiting class: goalkeeper Blake Gillingham, defender Aaron Sandhu, and forward Dominic Vegaalban. Former USF goalkeeper Ruben Stuiver also joins the Broncos as a graduate transfer.
The Broncos open their regular season at home vs. Cal Poly on Friday evening.
New USF Coach Hopes to Build on Last Season’s Progress
Last fall, the University of San Francisco Dons opened the season with a 3-0 loss to UCLA and a 5-0 loss to Stanford, but recovered to finish with a winning record (5-4-2), a significant improvement over the 2019 club, which won only two matches all season. After the season, coach Leonard Griffin left for Grand Canyon University and USF hired Chris Brown, the former Associate Head Coach at Saint Mary’s, as his replacement.
USF was one of the youngest teams in the WCC last season and most of the last season’s key contributors have returned, including forward Nonso Adimabua, the 2020-21 WCC Freshman of the Year, who scored 3 goals and had 5 assists in the truncated 2020-2021 season. He is joined by defenders Shayan Charalaghi and Kevyn Lo; midfielders Gabriel Bracken Serra, Rodrigo Buena, Nik Kizarian, and Dominic Valdivia; and forward/midfielder Ivo Neto.
Goalkeepers Alejandro Munoz and Ruben Stuiver have moved on, but Brown has recruited Freshmen Christian “CJ” Pycior from Los Alamitos High School in Seal Beach and Charlie McKay from Menlo-Atherton High School to compete with Brandon Keniston for the job. Other key recruits include three European players: attacking midfielder Ferdaus “Ferdy” Ghafury from Boppard, Germany; defender Filip Kanold from Stockholm, Sweden; and forward Tobias Wangerud from Oslo, Norway.
The Dons host Sacramento State in their regular season opener on Thursday evening.
San Jose State Hopes to Contend for WAC Title
San Jose State’s excellent 2020-2021 season ended in disappointment with a loss to Air Force on a penalty kick shootout in the quarterfinal of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament. They had lost only once in the regular season and finished in third place in the conference standings.
The Spartans also finished third in the most recent preseason poll of WAC coaches. They bring back most of last season’s key contributors, including Rudi Castro, whose 10 assists were the second most in Division 1 last season. Other returnees include three players who earned preseason All-WAC honors: midfielders Max Allen, Willy Miranda, and Carlos Gomez-Zavala—as well as goalkeeper David Sweeney; defenders Joel Garcia, Kasper Poulsgaard, and Kameron Bolden; midfielder Finlay Wood, and forward Eduardo Miranda.
The Spartans travel south for their regular season opener on Thursday to take on CSU Bakersfield.
