Friday, October 5
Honolulu, HI
10:00 PM
UC Riverside
at
Hawai'i
Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta
Women's Soccer Heads To Hawai'i, Northridge For Weekend Matches
10/1/2012 12:46:00 PM | Women's Soccer
| Oct. 5 | 10:00 pm | at Hawai'i | Live Stats | Free Admission |
| Oct. 7 | 5:00 pm | at Cal State Northridge | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team plays five of its final seven regular season matches on the road beginning with this weekend's trip to Hawai'i on Friday, October 5 (10 pm PT), and Cal State Northridge on Sunday, October 7 (5 pm).
The Highlanders were thrown into the deep end during the first week of conference play as they squared off against Long Beach State and UC Irvine, picked by the league's coaches during preseason polling to finish first and second in the conference.
The 49ers came to UC Riverside ranked 21st in the nation, and the Highlanders battled them to a scoreless tie after 45 minutes of play. But in the second period, Long Beach State took control of the match outscoring UCR 5-1 (box score/recap).
The Highlanders took the Anteaters into overtime on Sunday, but gave up a goal on a corner kick late in the first overtime period to drop a 2-1 decision (box score/recap).
Hawai'i is in its first season of Big West competition, and dropped its first conference match of the season on Sunday to Cal State Northridge, 2-0. That was the fourth loss in a row for the Rainbow Wahine who opened the season with a 5-1-2 mark.
The Highlanders are 1-0-1 all-time against Hawai'i, but the team's have not played since September 8, 2003 when they battled to a 2-2, double overtime draw (box score).
The Matadors topped Hawai'i 2-0 to open their Big West Conference schedule, snapping a five-match winless streak in the process. CSUN began the year with a 3-1-1 mark, but had gone 0-2-3 prior to picking up the W against the Wahine. Northridge takes on Cal State Fullerton at home on Friday before welcoming the Highlanders to Matador Soccer Field on Sunday.
Scoring has been an issue this season for the Matadors who have been shut out on three occasions and scored just one goal six times. Defensively, Northridge has five shutouts on the season and lead the conference with a 0.58 goals against average.
UCR is 5-6-0 all-time vs. CSUN after winning last season's meeting, 3-1 (box score/recap/video highlights).
| UC Riverside vs. Wahine and Matadors Match Capsules | |||
|
UC Riverside |
Hawai'i | Cal State Northridge | |
| 2012 Stats | 5-6-2, 0-2-0 | 5-5-2, 0-1-0 | 4-3-4, 1-0-0 |
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | |
| Roster | Roster | Roster | |
| Conf. | Big West | ||
| Current Streak | L 2 | L 2 | W 1 |
|
Last Box Score |
L, 2-1 (OT) vs. UC Irvine |
L, 2-0 at Cal State Northridge |
W, 2-0 vs. Hawai'i |
| Next Opp. |
Oct. 14 at Cal State Fullerton |
Oct. 7 vs. Cal State Fullerton |
Oct. 12 at Cal Poly |
| Top Scorer |
 Valencia Sophomore 3 gls, 2 asts 8 pts |
 Fujimoto Sophomore 6 gls, 1 ast 13 pts |
 Fernandez Senior 2 gls, 4 asts 8 pts |
|
Top Keeper |
 White Senior 13 matches 1.62 gaa 64 svs |
 Taaca Senior 12 matches 1.75 gaa 45 svs |
 Jacobo Senior 11 matches 0.58 gaa 67 svs |
|
Record vs. |
1-0-1 (Results) |
5-6-0 (Results) |
|
|
Current Streak vs. |
T 1 | W 1 | |
GAME NOTES
WELCOME BACK
UC Riverside's new head women's soccer coach has a familiar look about him: Nat Gonzalez, who took over the team this winter, was the Highlanders head men's soccer coach from 2001-03, restarting a program that lay dormant for a number of years prior to UC Riverside making the transition to Division I.
DON'T LOOK ETHEL!
The Highlanders had a four-match unbeaten streak snapped on Sunday, September 16 in a 1-0 loss to San Francisco. The last time UC Riverside posted a longer unbeaten streak was in 2009 when they stayed out of the loss column for seven straight matches from August 30 through September 20.
ROOKIE RECKONING
In the Highlanders' 2-1, season-opening win over CSU Bakersfield (box score/recap) Crystal Lopez became the first UC Riverside rookie since Ciara Hilpert in 2008, to score a goal in the first match of her career. Hilpert did it in the Highlanders 5-0 win over Southern Utah on August 22 of that year (box score/recap).
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UC Riverside's leading scorer, Celina Valencia, was named Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Week on September 3, for games played from August 27 through September 2.
The Alhambra, CA native scored half of the Highlanders four goals over the weekend at the UC Riverside Women’s Soccer Tournament netting the team’s lone score against New Mexico State in a 1-1 tie on Friday (watch highlights), and one of three goals in the Highlanders come-from-behind 3-2 victory over UTEP on Sunday (watch highlights). Valencia also assisted on Andrea Morales’s game-tying goal with 12:35 remaining in regulation.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES
Two years ago, the Highlanders suffered through a one-win season that produced just three goals all year long. In 2011, however, UC Riverside picked up eight wins on the season, remaining in the hunt for a Big West Conference postseason berth until the final match of the season, while scoring 21 goals. This year, the Highlanders are 5-6-2 on the season with 17 scores in 13 matches.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Ten members of the Highlanders dented the back of the net last year which is the most goal scorers the team has posted in a season since 2007 when 12 players etched their names into the scoring column. So far in 2012, nine players are responsible for UC Riverside's 17 goals.
DOUBLE-DIGIT DENTER
The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team hasn't had a double-digit goal scorer since Tessa Lennala dented the back of the net on 11 occasions back in 2008. Celina Valencia and Crystal Lopez each have three goals so far on the season in 13 matches for the Highlanders.
Day in the Life: Leilani Juan
Monday, May 04
UCR Student-Athletes cheer on our students.
Friday, May 01
UCR Athletics Director Introductory Full Press Conference
Tuesday, March 24
Athletics Director Greg Paules Introductory Presentation Recap
Tuesday, March 24
