Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team punched its ticket to the Big West Tournament Thursday evening with a 1-0 victory over visiting CSUN. That secured the number four seed for the Highlanders, and they will take on either UC Santa Barbara or Long Beach State in the 5 pm PT semifinal match on Thursday, November 5.
All three conference tournament matches are being held on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The Championship game is slated for Sunday, November 8 at 1 pm.
UC Riverside won't know its opponent until the completion of Sunday's UC Santa Barbara at CSUN match which kicks off at 2 pm. If the Gauchos win or tie, they are the one seed, and if the Gauchos lose, the 49ers get the top spot. Cal State Fullerton is locked in at the three seed, and will play at 7:30 pm.
| Standings Through October 29 at 10 pm PT |
| Team | W | L | T | Pts |
| UC Santa Barbara | 6 | 1 | 0 | 18 |
| Long Beach State | 6 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| UC Riverside | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| CSUN | 3 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| UC Davis | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| Cal Poly | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| UC Irvine | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Hawai'i | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
The Highlanders dominated play Thursday night, outshooting the Matadors, 17-7. They scored the only goal they would need in the 23rd minute when Brittany Mata headed Blanca Barrio's corner kick past the CSUN defense.
UC Riverside had two other golden scoring opportunities in the second period, but Matadors' keeper Cynthia Tafoya smothered a Tyler Cunningham shot, and Barrio's sliding attempt from straight on at an empty net sailed over the goal.
The win gave the UC Riverside 11 wins on the season which is the second most victories in the history of the program behind the 13 recorded by the 2004 version of the Highlanders. The five conference wins on the year tied a program record set by the 2003 squad.
