No. 6 Indiana Meets No. 22 UC Santa Barbara in 2004 College Cup Final Rematch

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 6-ranked Indiana Hoosiers (15-2-4) will host the No. 22 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos (14-4-4) in the third round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. First kick is scheduled for noon ET on Dec. 1 at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium.

The game will stream on the BTN and live stats will be available at IUHoosiers.com.

SETTING THE SCENE
• The Hoosiers reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth-straight season after taking out No. 19 Kentucky, 3-0, in the second round of action. Freshman Victor Bezerra secured his first-career hat trick in the victory.
• Indiana earned the No. 5 overall seed for the 2019 NCAA Tournament, marking the 15th time in the last 17 years since the current seeding format began in 2003 that IU earned a top-16 seed. Indiana has earned a top-8 seed 10 times since 2003.
• The berth for the Hoosiers marked the team's 33rd-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 44th overall in the program's history, the most of any team in the 2019 NCAA Tournament field.

NEWS AND NOTES
• Indiana claimed the outright Big Ten regular season championship for the second-straight season and the 16th time overall in program history after finishing the eight-game league slate with a record of 7-1-0.
• The back-to-back regular season titles mark the first time Indiana has repeated as champions since winning the 2006 and 2007 crowns.
• Indiana doubled down on the championship success after edging Michigan, 4-3, in a PK shootout to claim the 14th Big Ten Tournament championship in program history, and second in as many seasons.
• The championship double is the 10th in program history, the most in the Big Ten Conference. Indiana pulled off the double for the second-straight season for the first time since the 1998 and 1999 seasons.

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
• The UC Santa Barbara Gauchos enter the 2019 NCAA Tournament third round matchup with an overall record of 14-4-4 (4-1-2 Big West) and finished the regular season as the second seed in the Big West tournament.
• UC Santa Barbara earned a total of eight Big West Conference postseason honors, highlighted by senior Noah Billingsley (Big West Defensive Player of the Year), senior Thibault Candia (Big West Co-Midfielder of the Year), and freshman Finn Ballard McBride (Big West Freshman of the Year).
• Junior Rodney Michael, senior Sahid Conteh, and junior Hunter Ashworth joined Billingsley and Candia on the All-Big West first team, while sophomore Ben Roach and Ballard McBride were selected to the second team.
• Senior Will Baynham leads UCSB in total points with 26 (nine goals, eight assists), while Michael (24 points; eight goals, eight assists), Candia (21 points; seven goals, seven assists), and Ballard McBride (20 points; nine goals, two assists) all have 20-plus points this season.
• Roach posted 11 shutouts, a goals-against average of 0.91, and a save percentage of .796 in 22 starts in net.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Hoosiers trail the series history by a tally of 2-3-0 but the two squads have not meet on the pitch since a 3-0 Gaucho victory on Oct. 2, 2009. IU has been outscored, 8-5, in the brief series.
• The last Indiana victory in the series came on Dec. 12, 2004. The two squads played to a 1-1 tie before settling the match in penalty kicks. IU earned the 2004 NCAA National Championship by way of a 3-2 advantage from the spot.

NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The berth for the Hoosiers is the team's 33rd-straight bid to the NCAA Tournament and the 44th overall in the program's history.
• Indiana has an NCAA-best .727 (92-33-5) winning percentage in the tournament, while the 92 victories are also tops in the NCAA.
• Stanford is second in the NCAA with a winning percentage of .663 (29-13-7), while UCLA's 72 tournament victories ranks second.
• IU has appeared in 20 College Cups, which leads all Division I teams, and won its eighth national title in 2012.

INDIANA UNDEFEATED IN LAST 38 HOME MATCHES
• The Hoosiers are undefeated in the team's last 38 matches at Jerry Yeagley Field at Bill Armstrong Stadium, posting a mark of 34-0-4.
• IU's last loss at home came to No. 20 Virginia Tech, 2-1 in overtime, on Nov. 27, 2016 in the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
• The 38-match home-unbeaten streak is tied for the longest streak in program history and ranks as the fourth-longest unblemished streak in NCAA history.
• Akron (Sept. 5, 2008-Oct. 29, 2011) holds the NCAA record with an undefeated streak of 48-straight home matches. North Carolina (Sept. 5, 2010-Nov. 25, 2012) held a streak of 40 games, Tulsa (1988-1992) compiled a 39-game streak, and Indiana (Sept. 10, 1982-Sept. 6, 1985/current) sits fourth with 38 games.

BEZERRA LIFTS HOOSIERS WITH HAT TRICK
• Freshman Victor Bezerra turned in an historic three-goal performance in the second-round victory over the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats.
• His hat trick marked the third in program history in the NCAA Tournament and first since Nikita Kotlov tallied a trio of goals against Xavier on Nov. 10, 2012.
• Scott Merritt also recorded a hat trick against Evansville on Nov. 24, 1996 in the NCAA Tournament-Regional Semifinal.
• Bezerra is the youngest player in program history to score a postseason hat trick as Kotlov was a junior and Merritt was a senior.

IMPRESSIVE RECORD VS. NON-CONFERENCE OPPONENTS
• In IU's last 55 regular season matches against non-conference opponents dating back through the 2014 season, the Hoosiers have posted an impressive record of 42-5-8.

IUMS IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
• Indiana is ranked No. 6 in the country in the United Soccer Coaches poll. IU is ranked No. 6 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer and No. 7 by College Soccer News.

No. 6 Indiana Meets No. 22 UC Santa Barbara in 2004 College Cup Final Rematch

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Players Mentioned

Victor Bezerra

Indiana University Athletics