Saturday, November 6
Santa Barbara, CA
7:00 PM
UC Riverside
at
UC Santa Barbara
Grab Your Good Luck Charms. Men's Soccer Postseason Hopes Still Alive
11/5/2010 11:05:47 AM | Men's Soccer
Santa Barbara, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team has one match remaining on its regular season schedule in Saturday's 7 pm PT match at UC Santa Barbara, but the Highlanders hope it won't be the last contest of the year.
UCR still has a chance to earn the fourth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament, but they need to defeat the Gauchos, score at least two goals, and get some assistance from the UC Irvine Anteaters.
Fans who are unable to attend the match may follow it online via GameTracker or listen to the KCSB or News-Press Radio online broadcasts.
The Highlanders head into the match at UCSB with a 3-6-0 record in conference and nine points in the Big West standings which puts them in sixth place. Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis are tied for fourth with 12 points each, but UC Davis is done with conference play for the regular season at 4-6-0, while the Titans are 4-5-0.
A Cal State Fullerton win ends the Highlanders year, but that will be a tall order as they host the number one team in the conference, UC Irvine (6-1-2), on Saturday night. So UCR needs an Anteaters win over the Titans as one piece of their postseason puzzle.
Assuming a Fullerton loss, a UC Riverside win over UC Santa Barbara puts the Highlanders at 4-6-0 tying them with UC Davis and the Titans.
Things get a little complicated from here on out as we have to go several layers deep into the tiebreaker rules to determine who gets the four seed. We'll keep things simple and give you the outcome of the tiebreakers without actually showing you how the sausage gets made. You can eitther trust us, or grab a paper and pen to work things out for youself by following the information located on pages 4-6 in the Big West Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Bylaws.
In our three-way tie between the Highlanders, Aggies and Titans, UC Davis gets eliminated first because of their 0-2 record against UC Santa Barbara ... yes, you read correctly. UC Santa Barbara.
UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton are both 1-1 against the Gauchos, so we go back to the two-team tiebreaker rules to break that tie. This takes us even further down the rabbit hole to the number of goals scored by each team in road conference matches.
This is why we referenced in the opening that UCR needed to score at least two goals against the Gauchos: they currently trail the Titans in this category seven goals to five. If the Highlanders score two goals, this becomes a push, and we move closer to the center of the earth. If UCR scores three goals, they win the tiebreaker, and grab the four seed.
Scoring three goals against UC Santa Babara is certainly possible, as UC Riverside proved earlier in the year, but if the Highlanders only score two, we move on to goal scoring differential in all conference matches.
The Highlanders already have this tiebreaker in hand as they enter the weekend with a -5 goal differential compared to -8 for the Titans.
All of which is a messy way of saying that if Cal State Fullerton loses, UC Riverside wins, and the Highlanders score two or more goals in the UCSB match, UCR gets the four seed and their first-ever Big West Tournament berth.
UCR still has a chance to earn the fourth seed in the Big West Conference Tournament, but they need to defeat the Gauchos, score at least two goals, and get some assistance from the UC Irvine Anteaters.
Fans who are unable to attend the match may follow it online via GameTracker or listen to the KCSB or News-Press Radio online broadcasts.
The Highlanders head into the match at UCSB with a 3-6-0 record in conference and nine points in the Big West standings which puts them in sixth place. Cal State Fullerton and UC Davis are tied for fourth with 12 points each, but UC Davis is done with conference play for the regular season at 4-6-0, while the Titans are 4-5-0.
A Cal State Fullerton win ends the Highlanders year, but that will be a tall order as they host the number one team in the conference, UC Irvine (6-1-2), on Saturday night. So UCR needs an Anteaters win over the Titans as one piece of their postseason puzzle.
Assuming a Fullerton loss, a UC Riverside win over UC Santa Barbara puts the Highlanders at 4-6-0 tying them with UC Davis and the Titans.
Things get a little complicated from here on out as we have to go several layers deep into the tiebreaker rules to determine who gets the four seed. We'll keep things simple and give you the outcome of the tiebreakers without actually showing you how the sausage gets made. You can eitther trust us, or grab a paper and pen to work things out for youself by following the information located on pages 4-6 in the Big West Conference Men's Soccer Tournament Bylaws.
In our three-way tie between the Highlanders, Aggies and Titans, UC Davis gets eliminated first because of their 0-2 record against UC Santa Barbara ... yes, you read correctly. UC Santa Barbara.
UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton are both 1-1 against the Gauchos, so we go back to the two-team tiebreaker rules to break that tie. This takes us even further down the rabbit hole to the number of goals scored by each team in road conference matches.
This is why we referenced in the opening that UCR needed to score at least two goals against the Gauchos: they currently trail the Titans in this category seven goals to five. If the Highlanders score two goals, this becomes a push, and we move closer to the center of the earth. If UCR scores three goals, they win the tiebreaker, and grab the four seed.
Scoring three goals against UC Santa Babara is certainly possible, as UC Riverside proved earlier in the year, but if the Highlanders only score two, we move on to goal scoring differential in all conference matches.
The Highlanders already have this tiebreaker in hand as they enter the weekend with a -5 goal differential compared to -8 for the Titans.
All of which is a messy way of saying that if Cal State Fullerton loses, UC Riverside wins, and the Highlanders score two or more goals in the UCSB match, UCR gets the four seed and their first-ever Big West Tournament berth.
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UCR Student-Athletes cheer on our students.
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UCR Athletics Director Introductory Full Press Conference
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