The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team will play Chile in a friendly game at Harder Stadium on the UC Santa Barbara campus on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. It will mark the return to the field where the team last played more than three decades ago.
The national team’s previous visit to Harder Stadium came in 1991, just weeks before the U.S. beat Norway to win the program’s first World Cup. That matchup against the UCSB Gauchos was one of the squad’s final tune-up games before making history.
“Having a chance to play all together and coming at us… it was intimidating,” said Linda Meyer, a Gauchos player at the time. “We were all, as we should be, a little scared.”
Aaron Heifetz, then an assistant coach for UCSB, reflected on how unusual that kind of college matchup would be today.
“Never in a million years would the U.S. Women’s National Team play a college squad in a promoted stadium match like that now,” he said.
The national team rolled to a 10–0 win that day and, aside from training camps, did not return to Santa Barbara until now. Heifetz, who is currently U.S. Soccer’s Director of Communications, helped bring the team back to Harder Stadium this month.
“There’s a 15,000-seat stadium here in Santa Barbara, and it’s called 'soccer heaven.' Welcome to soccer heaven,” Heifetz said to his colleague, who is in charge of booking the matches for the team.
Meyer, who now works at UCSB, said she’s proud her team played a part in the early days of the national program’s rise.
“Knowing those players and playing against them, it’s special to have been that close to the process,” she said.
Heifetz also warned fans that campus parking can be limited and encouraged early arrival. He said roughly 1,500 tickets remain. The match will serve as the national team’s season opener as it prepares for World Cup qualifiers this fall.
Tickets are available on the U.S. Soccer website.
Currently, there are nine players from California on the National Team roster.
