Friday, September 28
Riverside, CA
8:00 pm
UC Riverside
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta
Men's Soccer Begins Big West Play vs. #3 UC Santa Barbara
9/26/2012 11:01:00 AM | Men's Soccer
| Sept. 28 | 8:00 pm | vs. UC Santa Barbara | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets |
| Sept. 30 | 1:00 pm | vs. Cal Poly | Live Stats | Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—The UC Riverside Men’s Soccer Team begins Big West Conference play this weekend as the Highlanders host number 3 ranked UC Santa Barbara on Friday, September 28 at 8:00 pm PT. UCR concludes its weekend with a 1:00 pm kick off against Cal Poly on Sunday, September 30.
The Highlanders season-opening winning streak came to an end last Sunday, as they dropped a 2-0 decision at home to CSU Bakersfield (box score/recap). Despite the loss, UCR held on to two of its national rankings as they are 24th in the nation in both the NSCAA and College Soccer News polls.
The Gauchos enter the weekend with an undefeated 6-0-2 record with wins over the likes of Gonzaga, San Diego, Loyola Marymount and Harvard. UC Santa Barbara's two ties have come against Oregon State and UCLA.
UC Santa Barbara owns a 16-3-1 mark against the Highlanders in the all-time series between the clubs, but UCR won both matches a year ago: 3-1 at UC Riverside on September 28 (box score/recap/video highlights) and 3-2 at UCSB on October 22 (box score/recap).
Cal (5-3-0) Poly just had a five-match winning streak stopped courtesy of a 1-0 loss to UCLA in the 2012 Nike Central Coast Challenge. The Mustangs take on Cal State Fullerton Friday evening before heading to the Inland Empire to play the Highlanders.
UC Riverside hopes to end an eight match winless streak against Cal Poly. The last time the Highlanders beat the Mustangs was on October 28, 2006 in a 2-0 decision (box score). Last season, Cal Poly beat UCR 5-0 to pick up their sixth shutout of the Highlanders in the past seven meetings.
| UC Riverside vs. Gauchos and Mustangs Match Capsules | |||
| UC Riverside |
UC Santa Barbara |
Cal Poly | |
|
2012 Record & Stats |
7-1-0 | 6-0-2 | 5-3-0 |
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | |
| Roster | Roster | Roster | |
| Conference | Big West | Big West | Big West |
| Current Streak | L 1 | W 1 | L 1 |
|
Most Recent Box Score |
L, 0-2 vs. CSU Bakersfield |
W, 1-0 vs. Harvard |
L, 1-0 vs. UCLA |
| Next Opponent |
Oct. 5 vs. UC Davis |
Sept. 30 @ CSUF |
Oct. 5
vs. CSUN
|
| Top Scorer |
 Long Junior 4 goals, 1 assist 9 points |
 Campion Junior 5 goals, 1 assist 11 points |
 Bernardi Junior 3 goals, 1 assist 7 points |
|
Top Keeper |
 Khosravi Freshman 8 matches 27 svs, 0.82 gaa |
 Mansker Sophomore 8 matches 14 svs, 0.76 gaa |
 Hauser Sophomore 4 matches 10 svs, 0.75 gaa |
|
All-Time Record vs. |
3-16-1 (Results) |
6-12-2 (Results) |
|
| Current Streak | W 2 | L 6 | |
GAME NOTES
UNDEFEATED
UC Riverside won its first seven matches of the 2012 season, and was one of only six teams in the nation with unblemished records heading into the weekend of September 21-23, but a 2-0 loss to CSU Bakersfield ended the Highlanders perfect run.
HEADED TO THE POLLS
| Week Of ... |
Soccer America |
Soccer Times |
NSCAA |
College Soccer News |
Top Drawer Soccer |
| Preseason | |||||
| Aug. 27 | RV | ||||
| Sept. 3 | RV | RV | |||
| Sept. 10 | 25 | 30 | |||
| Sept. 17 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 24 | |
| Sept. 24 | 24 | 24 |
FIRING BLANKS
The last time the Highlanders recorded consecutive shutouts prior to this 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 program'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 five 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 11 different players are responsible for the Highlanders 20 goals on the season. Aaron Long's four goals lead the squad.
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 18 assists in eight 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 20 goals in just eight matches so far in 2012.
| Single-Season Team Goals | ||
| 28 | 2004 | |
| 28 | 2011 | |
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With a 7-1-0 mark in non-conference matches to start the 2012 season, the Highlanders set the program record for non-conference wins in a season established 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 second longest unbeaten streak in the Division I history of the program behind the current seven match winning streak to start the 2012 campaign.
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
