Fullerton, CA—For the second time in three years, the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team is battling for a Big West Conference Tournament Championship. The first step in achieving that goal is a Thursday, November 5 match against #1 Long Beach State in the tournament semifinals at 5 pm PT. The championship match is slated for Sunday, November 8 at 1 pm.
Tickets go on sale Monday, November 2 at 12 pm, and may be purchased at
FullertonTitans.com or by phone at (657) 278-2783. Cost is $12 for adults, $8 for seniors and children 12 and under, $5 for students of participating Big West Conference schools with a valid ID, and $6 per person for groups of 20 or more.
The Highlanders secured the number four seed in the tourney with a 1-0 victory over CSUN last Thursday (
box score/
recap). Two years ago they were the three seed, upending UC Irvine in the semis in a double overtime thriller, 2-1, (
box score/
recap/
video recap) and falling to Cal State Fullerton in PKs in the title match (
box score/
recap).
UC Riverside has never won the Big West Tournament Championship, but in 2005, the Highlanders earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament where they fought Colorado to a scoreless tie, before losing 4-3 on penalty kicks (
box score/
recap). The 2005 squad finished the year with the lowest RPI in the program's history at 38. This year's team is ranked in the 50s heading into the tournament.
The 2015 Highlanders have a few additional things in common with the UCR teams of a decade ago: Their 11 wins are the second most in program history behind the 2004 squad's 13 victories, and their five conference wins tied the mark set by the 2003 team.
UC Riverside's defense brings a goals against average of 0.93 into the tournament—the second lowest mark since the 2005 team recorded a 0.76 GAA. This year's team has a little more firepower, scoring 1.47 goals per 90 minutes compared to 1.33 for the 2005 version.
Tyler Cunningham (7 goals, 3 assists, 17 points) and Blanca Barrio (5 goals, 7 assists, 17 points) lead a two-pronged UCR attack. Cunningham, a senior, is the Highlanders' career assists leader, and ranks third in career goals and points. Barrio has 13 career assists in just two seasons at UC Riverside which puts her in a tie for second place on the Highlanders' career chart.
Long Beach State earned the number one seed after UC Santa Barbara dropped a 4-3 overtime decision at CSUN on Sunday afternoon. That dropped the Gauchos into a tie with the 49ers at 6-2-0, and The Beach own the tiebreaker due to a 1-0 win over UCSB back on October 11.
The Highlanders beat Long Beach State two weeks ago, 2-1, thanks to scores by Barrio and Brittany Mata. The 49ers lone goal came on a penalty kick in the 71st minute, as UC Riverside kept one of the top goal scorers in the conference, Ashley Gonzalez (8 goals), in check.
Ashton McKeown started 15 of the team's 19 matches this year, concluding the regular season with a goals against average of 0.59. Outside of Mata's first-half score against the Highlanders, she didn't allow a single goal in the four other matches in which she competed against Big West opponents.
UCR is 5-7-4 all-time against the 49ers with wins in each of the last three matches.
UC Santa Barbara (6-2-0) had a five-match winning streak snapped with their season-ending loss to the Matadors. Included in that streak was a 1-0 win over Cal State Fullerton (6-2-0), which gave the Gauchos the tiebreaker over the Titans, and a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over the Highlanders (
box score/
recap).
UC Riverside led 2-1 in that match thanks to a pair of scores by freshman Darielle O'Brien, but the Gauchos tied the match in the 73rd minute, and won it with 3:28 gone in the first overtime period.
UCSB is the second highest scoring team in the conference averaging 1.8 goals per 90 minutes. Mallory Hromatko has the third most goals in the Big West with nine, and is tied for third in points with 24. Beth Ritter is the team's primary keeper with a goals against average of 1.05 in 13 matches including 12 starts. Jacq Caginia has seven starts on the year in goal for the Gauchos and a 0.71 GAA.
The Highlanders are 4-12-0 all-time against UCSB, but the teams have split the last four meetings between the clubs.
Cal State Fullerton (6-2-0) is the three seed in the tournament, with their two losses coming at Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara by identical 1-0 scores. The Titans beat UCR this season, 1-0, thanks to a penalty kick in the 61st minute by Morgan Batchellar (
box score/
recap)
Fullerton is the top scoring team in the Big West with 38 goals in 18 matches, and 17 scores in eight conference contests. Rebecca Wilson leads the league in goals (18) and points (41), while Christina Burkenroad is first in the Big West in assists (10) and tied for third in points (24). Jennifer Stuart has started 15 of Cal State Fullerton's matches between the pipes and owns a goals against average of 0.71.
UC Riverside is 5-8-3 all-time against the Titans, but 1-5-2 over their last eight matches.
| Highlanders vs. 49ers, Gauchos and Titans |
| #4 UC Riverside | #1 Long Beach State | #2 UC Santa Barbara | #3 Cal State Fullerton |
| 2015 Stats & Record | 11-8-0, 5-3-0 | 11-5-3, 6-2-0 | 13-5-1, 6-2-0 | 14-3-1, 6-2-0 |
| Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results |
| Roster | Roster | Roster | Roster |
| Conference | Big West | Big West | Big West | Big West |
| Current Streak | W 2 | L 2 | L 2 | W 1 |
| Last Box Score | W, 1-0 vs. CSUN | W, 2-0 vs. UC Davis | L, 4-3 (OT) at CSUN | W, 2-1 at Cal Poly |
| Top Scorer | Tyler Cunningham
Senior
7 goals, 3 assist
17 points | Ashley Gonzalez
Sophomore
8 goals, 0 assists
16 points | Mallory Hromatko
Freshman
9 goals, 6 assists
24 points | Rebecca Wilson
Senior
18 goals, 5 assists
41 points |
| Blanca Barrio
Junior
5 goals, 7 assist
17 points | | | |
Top Goalkeeper
x
x
x
x | Elizabeth Silas
Senior
19 matches
0.93 gaa, 63 saves | Ashton McKeown
Senior
16 matches
0.59 gaa, 50 saves | Beth Ritter
Senior
13 matches
1.05 gaa, 35 saves | Jennifer Stuart
Junior
15 matches
0.71 gaa, 52 saves |
| Record vs. | | 5-7-4 (view results) | 4-12-0 (view results) | 5-8-3 (view results) |
| Current Streak vs. | | W 3 | L 1 | L 2 |
GAME NOTESTHOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT ITTwo years ago, Big West coaches picked the Highlanders to finish last in the conference. UC Riverside finished third and advanced to the Big West Championship Game before falling to Cal State Fullerton via penalty kicks. Last year, Big West coaches again picked the Highlanders to finish last only to watch as UCR finished in fifth place, one game out of playoff spot. This season, conference coaches pegged UC Riverside to come in eighth place, and they finished fourth, advancing to their second conference tournament in three years. When will they ever learn.
BEEN THERE, DONE THATOf the 17 players who played for UC Riverside in the 2013 Big West Conference Tournament, 11 are still on the team—Elizabeth Silas, Tyler Cunningham, Kelly Velasquez, Tatum Lockett, Sammy Arellano, Alexa Bustamante, Briana Thomasson, Amber Marani, Danielle Lopez, Alina Cheatham, Brittany Mata..
GAME-WINNERSTyler Cunningham has four game-winning goals on the season—one off the program record of five set by Renee Scachetti back in the 2005 season.
LENDING A HELPING FOOTTyler Cunningham broke the school record for assists in a season last year finishing with 10—four more than Vanessa Chanez and Amber Plumlee, who set the mark in 2004, and teammate Blanca Barrio, who had six assists last year.
Cunningham picked up an assist in the Highlanders second match of the 2015 season, and added another in the team's 2-1 overtime loss to Arizona, which moved her past Renee Scachetti into the top spot on UC Riverside's career assists chart with 14. Barrio has a team-high seven assists this season giving her 13 for her career.
SEVEN YEAR ITCHTyler Cunningham's seven goals on the year are the most for a member of the Highlanders since Tessa Lennala netted 11 back in the 2009 campaign.
DOUBLE DIGITSThe Highlanders reached the 10-win plateau this year for the first time since the 2006 season.
| Year | W | L | T |
| 2004 | 13 | 2 | 3 |
| 2003 | 11 | 7 | 3 |
| 2005 | 11 | 4 | 6 |
| 2015 | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| 2002 | 10 | 8 | 1 |
| 2006 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
GONE STREAKINGThe Highlanders won three straight matches from August 30 through September 6. That marked the first time UCR won three straight since the 2009 season. They also won three straight from October 9 through 16. The last time UC Riverside won four matches in a row was early in the 2006 season.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBERElizabeth Silas has a goals against average of 0.93 this season. Should she keep that figure below 1.00, she would become just the third keeper in program history to record a sub-1.00 GAA. The other two are Tawny Poggio, who did it three times (0.69 in 2004, 0.81 in 2005, and 0.88 in 2003) and Jessica White (0.80 in 2009).
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWOThe Highlanders are 28-4-2 over the past three-plus seasons when scoring two or more goals in a match. Their last loss when scoring two or more goals was a 3-2, double overtime decision at UC Santa Barbara this year.
RARIFIED AIRThe 2013 Highlanders four wins in conference were the second most in the history of the program. The 2003 squad went 5-3-1 en route to a third place Big West finish, while the 2002 and 2005 teams also each won four matches.
| Season | W | L | T | Pts | Place |
| 2003 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 16 | Third |
| 2015 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 15 | Fourth |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 15 | Second |
| 2002 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 | Sixth |
| 2013 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | Third |
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Big West coaches named UC Riverside junior forward Tyler Cunningham to the preseason All-Conference Team.
A PERFECT 10
The Highlanders honored the 2005 Women's Soccer Team at halftime of their Sunday, October 18 match against Cal State Fullerton. The 2005 version of the Highlanders became the first women's program in UC Riverside's Division I history to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and is arguably the greatest team, regardless of sport, in the Highlanders; Division I era.
FEELING A LITTLE RANK
Last season, for the first time in the history of the program, the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team found itself ranked in the NSCAA West Region. The Highlanders peaked at fifth midway through the year. They have been ranked as high as seventh in the region this season, and as of October 26, have their best RPI (63) since the 2005 season when they finished 38th in the nation.
HIGHLANDERS HARDWARE
Tyler Cunningham and Amber Marani were both named to the All-West Region Team in 2014 marking the first time since 2004 that the Highlanders had players so honored (story).
YOU OLD BLANKETY-BLANK
The Highlanders recorded seven shutouts in 2014 which is the most for the program since the 2009 squad recorded eight clean sheets. This season, UCR has six shutouts, and a goals against average of 0.93. The program record for lowest GAA in a season is 0.70 set in 2004.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The Highlanders 30 goals in 2014 are the fifth most in the history of the program, and the team's goals per match average is the third highest ever. UC Riverside also accumulated 33 assists—the second highest total in program history. This year, UCR has 28 goal and 25 assists through 18 matches.
| Single-Season Team Goals |
| Season | Matches | Goals |
| 2004 | 19 | 45 |
| 2002 | 19 | 36 |
| 2008 | 20 | 32 |
| 2003 | 21 | 31 |
| 2014 | 18 | 30 |
| | |
| Single-Season Team Assists |
| Season | Matches | Assists |
| 2004 | 19 | 39 |
| 2014 | 18 | 33 |
SPREADING THE WEALTHSixteen different Highlanders dented the back of the net in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program. Twelve different players have 27 total scores for the team this season.
