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NCAA men UC-Santa Barbara captures Big West crown by defeating Fullerton 2-0.FULLERTON, Calif. (Wednesday, November 13, 2002) -- No. 18 California-Santa Barbara claimed sole possession of the Big West Conference championship, using goals by sophomore striker Drew McAthy and senior forward Rob Friend to down California State-Fullerton 2-0 before 437 at Titan Stadium tonight. With one league match remaining Saturday against California-Irvine, UCSB (16-2-1, 8-0-1) has 25 points, six better than California State-Northridge (6-2-1). The Big West does not have a postseason tournament. McAthy notched his 14th goal of the season after 12:12 for a 1-0 lead, netting the rebound of a shot by junior midfielder David McGill from just above the top right of the penalty area. Late in the first half, McGill found junior midfielder at top right of the box. Arzate fired a shot toward the left post that Friend intercepted and put into the net for a 2-0 advantage with 34:02 elapsed. With his 17th assist, Arzate tied the Gauchos' single-season assist record set by Eric Price in 1982. Friend, with his 17 goals, is one short of Scott Grassinger's 1982 school best. McGill's two assists gave him 13 for the season, the fourth-highest single-season total in Gauchos history. McAthy's goal bumped him up into a fourth place tie with Scott Grassinger (1982) for most goals by a Gaucho in a season. |
