Men's Soccer Hosts UCR/Courtyard by Marriott Soccer Invitational

Sept. 14	5:00 pm	Nebraska Omaha vs. San Diego State	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
	8:00 pm	UC Riverside vs. North Florida	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets

Sept. 16	9:30 am	UC Riverside vs. Nebraska Omaha	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets
	3:30 pm	North Florida vs. San Diego State	Live Stats	Purchase Tickets

Riverside—The UC Riverside Men’s Soccer Team hosts the UCR/Courtyard by Marriott Soccer Invitational this weekend as the Highlanders welcome San Diego State, North Florida and Nebraska Omaha to the Inland Empire. The Highlanders will face off against North Florida in their first match of the tournament on Friday, September 14 at 8 pm PT.

UCR enters the weekend with a 5-0 mark and a top-25 ranking in the most recent NSCAA poll (story). This marks the first time in the 12-year Division I history of the program that the Highlanders have been undefeated this late in the season, and their first-ever appearance in the NSCAA poll.

UC Riverside is coming off of a 4-3, double-overtime win at UNLV that saw them tie the match on a Jose Diaz penalty kick with less than a minute to go in regulation, and score the game-winner on an Aaron Long header off of a corner kick (box score/recap).

This will be the first meeting between Nebraska Omaha and the Highlanders. North Florida and UCR faced off once before on September 23, 2011, with the Highlanders picking up the shutout in a 2-0 victory (box score/recap).

UCR/Courtyard by Marriott Soccer Invitational Match Capsules
	UC Riverside	North Florida	Nebraska Omaha	San Diego State
2012 Record & Stats	5-0-0	3-2-0	2-2-0	1-2-1
	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster
Conference	Big West	Atlantic Sun	Summit League	Mountain West
Current Streak	W 5	W 2	W 1	L 1
Most Recent Box Score	W, 4-3 vs. UNLV	W, 4-3 at Ga. Southern	W, 3-2 vs. Seattle	L, 2-1 vs. Ohio St.
Next Opponent	Sept. 23 vs. CSUB	Sept. 23 at Furman	Sept. 22 at W. Illinois	Sept. 21 vs. UNLV
Top Scorer	Aaron Long Junior 3 goals 1 assist 7 points	Jean Rivaroli Freshman 2 goals 1 assist 5 points Max McDaniel Freshman 2 goals 1 assist 5 points	Vance Rookwood Sophomore 2 goals 2 assists 6 points	Jordan Ongaro Junior 2 goals 0 assists 4 points Kody Duff Junior 2 goals 0 assists 4 points
Top Keeper	Ashkan Khosravi Freshman 5 mtchs 16 svs 0.78 gaa	Brad Sienkiewicz Senior 4 mtchs 22 svs 1.96 gaa	Matt Grosey Junior 4 mtchs 19 svs 1.75 gaa	Blakek Hylen Junior 3 mtchs 21 svs 1.64 gaa
All-Time Record vs.		1-0-0 (Results)	First Meeting
Current Streak		W 1	N/A

GAME NOTES
UNDEFEATED
UC Riverside is 5-0 for the first time in its 12 year Division I history. The Highlanders are the only team in the Big West with an unblemished record.

HEADED TO THE POLLS
UCR entered the NSCAA/Continental Tire rankings at No. 25 and the College Soccer News poll at No. 30 this week. This is the first time in its 12 year Division I history that the highlanders have been nationally ranked.

Following two road wins on the east coast to start the year, UCR found itself receiving six votes in the Soccer Times Poll and three in the NSCAA Poll—the most votes the Highlanders had received in either poll in their Division I history.

UC Riverside's stock continued to rise following a second undefeated weekend as both the Soccer Times (9 votes) and the NSCAA (25 votes) had the Highlanders ranked 32nd in the nation.

Last year marked the first time UC Riverside received votes in either poll picking up a single vote in the Soccer Times Poll on October 31, and one vote in the NSCAA Poll on November 15.

FIRING BLANKS
The last time the Highlanders recorded consecutive shutouts, prior to the first two matches of the 2012 season, was October 10 and 13, 2007 when they blanked Cal State Fullerton 1-0 and played to a scoreless tie at Cal State Northridge.

UC Riverside has never recorded three straight shutouts.

The Highlanders broke the progam's Division I era record for consecutive shutout minutes by holding the opposition scoreless for 290 minutes and eight second spanning four matches and dating back to the end of the 2011 season

The Highlanders already have three shutouts in 2012 after recording three shutouts in all of 2011. The team record for shutouts in a season is six set in 2006.

A NEW SET OF GOALS
Last season, senior Cesar Diaz-Pizarro scored 32.1 percent (9 of 28) of the team's goals, leaving the Highlanders in need of some replacement scoring for 2012.

UCR has used a balanced attack thus far on the offensive side of the pitch as eight different players are responsible for the Highlanders 13 goals on the season.

POSTSEASON PLAY
The Highlanders advanced to their first-ever Big West Tournament last year, setting Division I era records for wins in the process. They were shut out of the NCAA Tournament, however, despite an RPI of 39.

RPI
The Highlanders rose to as high as 30th in the nation a year ago based on the NCAA's RPI rankings which is the highest the program has ever been ranked.

MEAT IN THE SEATS
Attendance at UC Riverside home matches in 2011 was already up before a crowd of 2,016 saw the team upset #7 UC Santa Barbara on October 28, 2011 by a 3-1 score.

That total more than tripled the previous benchmark of 638 set on November 3, 2010 in a 1-0 win over UC Davis. It also pushed UCR's season attendance past the previous program record of 3,036 set in 2010.

At the next home match, the Highlanders had 852 in attendance—the second highest total in school history—as they squared off against #7 UC Irvine. UCR finished the year averaging a program best 773 fans per contest..

FEELING A LITTLE RANK
The Highlanders 3-1 win over #7 UC Santa Barbara on September 28, 2011 was the program's third win against a ranked opponent in the 10-plus year Division I history of the program. A few weeks later, they picked up their fourth-ever win against top-25 competition as they beat #15 UCSB, 3-2 on the road. And on October 29, they added a third win over a ranked opponent upsetting #9 UC Irvine on the road, 3-2.

UC Riverside's first win against a ranked opponent was a 2-0 decision at #21 San Diego State on September 4, 2007. They followed that up with a 2-1 victory over #7 UC Davis on October 18, 2008.

POSTSEASON HARDWARE
Cesar Diaz-Pizarro was named Big West Co-Offensive Player of the Year in 2011, and Junior Gonzalez earned Coach of the Year honors.

Diaz-Pizarro finished his UC Riverside career ranked first or second in a number of key offensive categories.

Career Points

57	Luc Harrington	23 goals, 11 assists	2001-04
48	Cesar Diaz Pizarro	20 goals, 8 assists	2008-11

Career Goals

23	Luc Harrington	2001-04
20	Cesar Diaz Pizarro	2008-11

Career Game-Winning Goals

8	Cesar Diaz Pizarro	2008-11
7	Luc Harrington	2001-04

Single Season Points

22	Luc Harrington	9 goals, 4 assists	2004
21	Cesar Diaz Pizarro	9 goals, 3 assists	2011

Single Season Goals

9	Cesar Diaz PIzarro	2011
9	Luc Harrington	2004
9	Scott Barnett	2004

Single Season Game-Winning Goals

4	Cesar Diaz Pizarro	2011
3	Three Occasions

LENDING A HELPING FOOT
The Highlanders recorded 25 assists during the 2010 season which is the most in the Division I history of the program. They tied that mark in 2011, and already have 10 assists in five matches in 2012.

Single-Season Team Assists
25	2010
25	2011

OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
UC Riverside's 28 goals in 2011 tied the program's Division I era record originally set by the 2004 squad. The Highlanders have 14 goals in just five matches so far in 2012.

Single-Season Team Goals
28	2004
28	2011

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With five non-conference wins to start the 2012 season, the Highlanders have tied the program record for non-conference wins in a season set a year ago. In 2011, UC Riverside finished the season with a 5-2-1 record against non-Big West opponents which gave the Highlanders just their second winning record during their non-conference season during the team's Division I history (2007, 3-2-2).

HOME COOKING
The Highlanders ran their Division I-era, program-record home unbeaten streak to six matches on September 28, 2011 with a 3-1 win over #7 UC Santa Barbara. That streak came to an end on October 12 with a loss to the #7 ranked UC Irvine Anteaters.

DON'T LOOK ETHEL!
UC Riverside ran its overall unbeaten streak to six matches with a 3-1 upset victory over #7 UC Santa Barbara on September 28, 2011. The streak came to an end on October 1 in a 1-0 loss at UC Davis. It is the longest unbeaten streak in the Division I history of the program.

Men's Soccer Hosts UCR/Courtyard by Marriott Soccer Invitational

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