WVU Mountaineer Sports: Basketball | Football | News |Men's Soccer: No. 9 WVU Heads West

The No. 9 West Virginia men's soccer team travels to California for the first time in men's soccer history and will battle No. 6 UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. WVU will face UCSB on Friday, Sept. 9, at 10 p.m., and will travel to Cal Poly on Sunday, Sept. 11, at 4 p.m. Both times are Eastern.
 
The Mountaineers were last in action on Sunday, Sept. 4, at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium, playing 41 minutes against No. 25 Old Dominion before the game was ruled a no contest because of lightning. WVU went up early in the match on an unofficial goal by Travis Pittman.
 
"The way we schedule, there are a lot of chances to build our resume," coach Marlon LeBlanc says. "We've played a number of big games and have a number of them that are coming. We wish we could've gotten that game in, but all we get is the sixth-best team in the country this Friday night."
 
WVU played Binghamton last Friday evening, defeating the Bearcats 2-1 on goals by Andy Bevin in the final minutes of the first half. Bevin has now scored the Mountaineers' last three goals.
 
After winning the National Championship in 2008, UC Santa Barbara is back in the hunt for the title in 2011 and currently holds a No. 6 ranking after beating Seattle, Duke and NC State to start the season.
 
"They are as good as they were then, and they'll be just as good five years from now," LeBlanc says. "It's one of those programs that recruits itself. They have perfect weather and a big fan base. They are as good as it gets in college soccer."
 
WVU last faced UCSB in 2009 in the season opener at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium with the Gauchos winning 2-0.
 
Offensively, the Gauchos are led by David Opoku, who has recorded three goals on 14 shots in the first three games of the season, including two gamewinners. Sam Garza, Dom Sarle, Peter Schmetz and Luis Silva also have each recorded a goal. Peter McGlynn leads the team with two assists. Garza was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy watch list and also was selected as a preseason second team All-American by CollegeSoccerNews.com.
 
The backline has been anchored by McGlynn, Schmetz, Juan Gomez and Mathew Glodack. The group has allowed just 13 shots on-goal.
 
Junior college transfer Andre Grandt is in his first season at UCSB and has played in all three matches, allowing three goals against and has made 10 saves.
 
Cal Poly just saw an eight-match home unbeaten streak snap last Sunday with a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Seattle. The squad is 1-1-1 on the season with a win against UNLV and a tie with New Mexico.
 
The team has scored two goals this season, with Ian Clark and Dakota Collins finding the back of the net. Wes Feighner and George Malki have each recorded assists for the Mustangs.
 
Cal Poly's back four of Feighner, Cameron Walters, Patrick Sigler and Connor Drechsler has started 21-straight contests together. Under coach Paul Holocher, Cal Poly has held an opponent to eight shots or fewer during 22 of 102 matches.
 
Senior keeper Patrick McLain has played all three games, allowing two goals and making five saves.
 
Cal Poly and WVU have never met on the pitch.

Live stats will be available on MSNsportsNET.com for both games, as well as a radio stream of the UCSB match on KCSB.org.