SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- After a one-year hiatus, the UC Santa Barbara men's lacrosse team will be pushing to return to the 2018 MCLA National Championships powered by Under Armour and the Gauchos have released the schedule they hope will make it happen.

UCSB will play a rugged, 14-game regular season schedule featuring nine teams that qualified for nationals.

The Gauchos do have the luxury of nine home games, including contests against three of the four national semifinalists -- California, runner-up Chapman and defending national champion Grand Canyon.

"The Gauchos are really excited about the 2018 season," said UCSB coach Mike Allan. "We feel that we put together a schedule that will both challenge our team and prepare us for the postseason. I could list all of the rankings and postseason records of our opponents, but the truth is this is just a typical UCSB schedule. We expect to play the top teams, and we expect to compete.

"Our focus this year is on building the most cohesive and gritty team possible, so we are far less concerned with who we play than we are with ourselves and our standards. The outcomes will take care of themselves."

2018 UC Santa Barbara Men's Lacrosse Schedule

* - indicates SLC North division contest
# - indicates contests at home sites
* - indicates contests at Carlsbad, Calif.