Places to know if you’re going to be a Gaucho fan…

– Harder Stadium: A converted football stadium, Harder has given both the men’s and women’s soccer teams one of the best home field advantages in the nation. In 2006, the men’s soccer team finished fourth in the country in average attendance at 2,719 fans per game. In 2004, over 11,000 fans packed into Harder Stadium to watch the Gauchos dismantle Virginia Commonwealth in an Elite Eight game. After winning the National Title last year, fans stole Harder Stadium’s goals and marched to the beach, where the celebration continued on the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

– The Thunderdome: In the early 1990s, the men’s basketball routinely filled the house as the Thunderdome became known as the loudest place to play on the West Coast. The highlight of this run came in 1990 when a capacity crowd willed the Gauchos to a victory over #1 UNLV, the only loss of the season for a team that would go on to win the National Championship. In recent years, Gaucho fans have struggled to fill the Thunderdome, but with both the men’s and women’s basketball teams favored to win conference titles, the Thunderdome should once again become one of the loudest gyms around.