Friday, October 26
Stockton, CA
7:00 PM
UC Riverside
at
Pacific
Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta
Women's Soccer Season Comes To An End This Weekend At UC Davis And Pacific
10/23/2012 8:57:00 AM | Women's Soccer
| Oct. 26 | 7:00 pm | at Pacific | Live Stats | Video | Free Admission |
| Oct. 28 | 2:00 pm | at UC Davis | Live Stats | N/A | Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team's regular season comes to an end this weekend as they travel north for a Friday, October 26 match against Pacific (3-12-1, 0-6-1) at 7 pm PT, and a Sunday, October 28 meeting with UC Davis (7-8-2, 2-4-1) at 2 pm.
The Highlanders picked up their first points of the conference season last weekend as they earned a 1-1 tie vs. first place Cal Poly (box score/recap), and a 1-0 victory over UC Santa Barbara (box score/recap). Jessica White was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week (story) for her efforts as she recorded 17 saves on the weekend including one on a penalty kick that would have tied the match against the Gauchos.
UC Riverside picked up four points in the conference standings to move ahead of winless Pacific into eighth place, three points behind UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara for sixth. The top four teams in the conference advance to the Big West Tournament.
Pacific won three of four matches before entering conference play, but are 0-6-1 since the start of Big West competition. They have allowed at least two goals in each of their seven conference matches, and are being outscored 39-17 on the season.
The Tigers own a 6-2-3 edge in the all-time series against the Highlanders, but UC Riverside came away with the 1-0 victory at home a year ago (box score/recap/video highlights).
UC Davis posted a 5-4-1 mark in its non-conference schedule, but after winning two of three to start Big West play, have gone winless (0-3-1) in four straight matches. Each of the Aggies last seven matches have been decided by one goal or less.
The Highlanders are 5-1-2 all time against UC Davis, with their lone loss coming a year ago in a 4-1 home defeat (box score/recap/video highlights). Prior to that, the Aggies scored just two goals in the seven meetings between the clubs.
| Highlanders at Tigers & Aggies Match Capsules | |||
|
UC Riverside |
Pacific | UC Davis | |
| 2012 Stats & Record | 6-9-3, 1-5-1 | 3-12-1, 0-6-1 | 7-8-2, 2-4-1 |
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | |
| Roster | Roster | Roster | |
| Conference | Big West | ||
| Current Streak | W 1 | L 5 | L 2 |
|
Last Box Score |
W, 1-0 vs. UC Santa Barbara |
L, 2-1 at Hawai'i |
L, 1-0 at Cal State Northridge |
| Next Opponent | End of Regular Season | Oct. 28. vs. Cal State Fullerton | End of Regular Season |
| Top Scorer |
 Crystal LopezFreshman 4 goals 1 assist 9 points |
 6 goals 1 assist 13 points |
 6 goals 2 assists 14 points |
|
Top Keeper |
Jessica White
Senior 16 matches 1.43 gaa 88 saves |
 11 matches 2.25 gaa 38 saves |
 Sophomore 19 matches 1.09 gaa 78 saves |
|
Record vs. |
2-6-3 (All-Time Results) | 5-1-2 (All-Time Results) | |
| Current Streak vs. | W 1 | L 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.
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).
Lopez is also leading UCR in scoring this season with four goals and an assist for nine points. If she remains atop the Highlanders leader board, she will become the fourth freshman to lead the team in scoring in the program's history: Melisa Escamilla, 2010, 2 goals, 0 assists, 4 points; Renee Scachetti, 2003, 7 goals, 4 assists, 18 points; and Jessica Armel, 2002, 4 goals, 1 assist, 9 points.
SHOOTING BLANKS
The Highlanders 1-0 shutout of UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, October 21 was UCR's first shutout of the season (box score/recap). The last time UC RIverside shutout an opponent prior to the blanking of the Gauchos was on October 9, 2011 in a 1-0 victory over Pacific.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
UC Riverside's 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.
Goalkeeper Jessica White picked up conference defensive player of the week honors on October 22 for matches played from Ovtober 15-21. The senior played a major role in the Highlanders success last week as they secured a 1-1 tie against first place Cal Poly and a 1-0 win over UC Santa Barbara. White recorded 13 saves against the Mustangs which is the second highest single-match total in the history of the program. Cal Poly scored 13 goals in their four conference matches prior to tangling with UC Riverside. Against the Gauchos, the Highlanders led 1-0 with 11:36 to go in the match when UCR was called for a foul in their defensive box. White made the save on the subsequent PK to keep the Highlanders on top.
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 6-9-3 on the season with 20 scores in 18 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 20 goals.
WRONG WAY STREAK
The Highlanders had dropped five straight matches heading into last weekend's play, before picking up a 1-1 tie against first place Cal Poly and a 1-0 win over UC Santa Barbara. The last time UCR lost more than five matches in a row was in 2010 when they endured a seven match losing streak.
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.
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UCR Student-Athletes cheer on our students.
Friday, May 01
UCR Athletics Director Introductory Full Press Conference
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Athletics Director Greg Paules Introductory Presentation Recap
Tuesday, March 24
