Wednesday, November 6
Riverside, CA
7:00 pm
UC Riverside
vs
UC Irvine
Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta
Battle For Big West Positioning Enters Final Week As Men's Soccer Hosts Irvine, Fullerton
11/6/2013 9:36:00 AM | Men's Soccer
| Nov. 6 | 7:00 pm | vs. UC Irvine | Live Stats | (951) 827-4653 For Tickets |
| Nov. 9 | 7:00 pm | vs. Cal State Fullerton | Live Stats | (951) 827-4653 For Tickets |
Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team controls its postseason destiny heading in to the final week of the regular season as they host UC Irvine, Wednesday at 7 pm PT followed by Cal State Fullerton, Saturday at 7 pm. Saturday's match includes Senior Night as UC Riverside Athletics will be honoring the senior class of: Ivan Garcia, Hayden Leslie, Aaron Long, Richie Osborne, and Ruben Valencia.
The Highlanders' 1-0 road win over 12th-ranked Cal State Northridge on Saturday (Box Score/Recap) moved them into third place in the South Division with a 3-4-1 record and 10 points. That ties them with Cal State Fullerton, but UC Riverside owns the tiebreaker over the Titans.
| South Division | ||||
| Team | W | L | T | Pts |
| UC Irvine | 5 | 2 | 1 | 16 |
| Cal State Northridge | 4 | 3 | 1 | 13 |
| UC Riverside | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 3 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
UCR can still finish with the number one seed in the South with wins over the Anteaters and Titans coupled with a Cal State Fullerton victory over Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, and a Matadors win over UC Irvine on Saturday. That would create a three-way log jam at the top of the division between UCR, UCI and CSUN, and the Highlanders would win the tiebreaker by virtue of their better combined record (2-1-1) against Irvine (2-2-0) and Northridge (1-2-1).
UC Riverside's win over Northridge on Saturday also helped goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi secure his fourth career Big West Defensive Player of the Week award (Read The Story).
UC Irvine recently jumped back into the national rankings, and the 'Eaters enter the week at number 15 in the Soccer America poll. The Anteaters own the all-time record against the Highlanders, 16-7-3, including a home win against UC Riverside, 2-0, on October 23, 2013 (Box Score/Recap).
Cal State Fullerton has lost its last three matches including a 2-1 loss to the Highlanders on Saturday October 26 (Box Score/Recap). The Highlanders are 7-14-4 all-time against Cal State Fullerton.
| Highlanders vs. Anteaters & Titans Match Capsules | ||||||
| UC Riverside | UC Irvine | Cal State Fullerton | ||||
| 2013 Record & Stats | 8-6-3, 3-4-1 | 10-4-3, 5-2-1 | 6-9-1, 3-4-1 | |||
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | ||||
| Roster | Roster | Roster | ||||
| Conference | Big West | Big West | Big West | |||
| Current Streak | W 2 | W 3 | L 3 | |||
| Most Recent Box Score | W, 1-0 at Cal State Northridge | W, 2-1 vs. Cal State Fullerton | L, 2-1 at UC Irvine | |||
| Next Opponent | End of Regular Season | November 9 vs. Cal State Northridge | End of Regular Season | |||
|
Top Scorer 2013 Stats x x x x |
 |
Romario Lomeli Freshman 3 goals, 1 assist 7 points |
 |
Enrique Cardenas Senior 6 goals, 5 assists 17 points |
 |
Ian Ramos Junior 3 goals, 2 assists 8 points |
|
Top Goalkeeper 2013 Stats x x x x |
 |
Ashkan Khosravi Sophomore 5 matches 0.96 GAA, 20 saves |
 |
Michael Breslin Sophomore 17 matches 0.90 GAA, 44 saves |
 |
Bryan Escalante Senior 14 matches 1.50 GAA, 60 saves |
| All-Time Record vs. | 7-16-3 (All-Time Results) | 7-14-4 (All-Time Results) | ||||
| Current Streak vs. | L 1 | W 1 | ||||
GAME NOTES
UNBEATEN
It was deja vu all over again at the start of the 2013 season as for the second year in a row, the Highlanders were undefeated through their first seven matches. Last year, UC Riverside won its first seven matches, but a 2-0 loss to CSU Bakersfield ended the Highlanders perfect run. This season it was 11th-ranked UCLA who hung the first loss of the year on UC Riverside.
DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
The Highlanders have had three different players earn Defensive Player of the Week honors so far this season—defender Hayden Leslie on September 2 (full story), goalkeeper KC John on September 23 (full story) and Ashkan Khosravi on October 21 (full story) and November 4 (full story).
FIRING BLANKS
The Highlanders broke the program's Division I era record for consecutive shutout minutes a year ago by holding the opposition scoreless for 290 minutes and eight seconds spanning four matches and dating back to the end of the 2011 campaign. They nearly bested that mark this season with a streak of 280:40 straight scoreless minutes that began in the final match of the 2012 season.
UC Riverside's 1-0 shutout win over Cal State Northridge on November 2 (Box Score/Recap) was the team's seventh of the season, breaking the school record for most shutouts in a season set by the 2007 squad.
RPI
The Highlanders rose to as high as 30th in the nation in 2011 based on the NCAA's RPI rankings which is the highest the program has ever been ranked. Heading into this week's matches, UC Riverside is 53rd in the nation in RPI.
ALL OR NOTHING
UC Riverside is 7-0-3 this season when allowing one goal or less. In games in which the Highlanders allow two or more goals, they are 1-6.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
A different member of the Highlanders has accounted for the game-winning goal in each of the team's eight victories this season.
HEADED TO THE POLLS
The Highlanders received their highest-ever national rankings last season, rising as high as 19th in the NSCAA poll. In the September 9, 2013 TopDrawerSoccer poll, UC Riverisde was receiving consideration for the first time this season, and for the week of September 16, the Highlanders received votes in the Soccer Times and NSCAA.Continental Tire polls.
| (2012) Week Of ... |
Soccer America |
Soccer Times |
NSCAA |
College Soccer News |
Top Drawer Soccer |
| Preseason | |||||
| Aug. 27 | RV | RV | |||
| Sept. 3 | RV | RV | RV | ||
| Sept. 10 | RV | 25 | 30 | ||
| Sept. 17 | 25 | 23 | 19 | 24 | |
| Sept. 24 | RV | 24 | 24 | ||
| Oct. 1 | RV | RV | 26 | ||
| Oct. 7 |
| (2013) Week Of ... |
Soccer America |
Soccer Times |
NSCAA |
College Soccer News |
Top Drawer Soccer |
| Sept. 2 | |||||
| Sept. 9 | RC | ||||
| Sept. 16 | RV | RV | RC | ||
| Sept. 23 | RV | RV | |||
| Sept. 30 |
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH
The Highlanders allowed five goals to Cal Poly in a 5-1 loss on October 4, 2013 (box score/recap). The last time UC Riverside allowed that many goals in a match was on October 12, 2011 when #7 UC Irvine topped the Highlanders by an identical 5-1 score (box score/recap).
WRONG WAY STREAK
The HIghlanders dropped four straight matches from late September to early October, which is the longest such streak for the team since the 2010 season when they lost five straight during the middle of the year.
BACK-TO-BACK
The Highlanders recorded their first-ever winning season as a Division I program in 2011, and made it back-to-back winning campaigns in 2012 posting a 10-8-0 mark. Those 10 victories also established a Division I-era, single-season record for the program.
DOUBLE-DIPPING
In the Highlanders' September 8 victory over Bradley, Ivan Garcia became the first member of the Highlanders to score two goals in a match this season (box score/recap). The last UC Riverside player to do it was Richie Osborne who scored a pair at UC Irvine on October 31, 2012 (box score/recap). Tyler Miguel joined Garcia in the multiple goal club on October 26 as his two second-half scores led the Highlanders to a 2-1 victory over host Cal State Fullerton (box score/recap).
SCORING DROUGHT
The Highlanders were held scoreless for three straight matches in mid-October which is the longest such streak since mid-September of 2009 when UC Riverside was also shutout for three consecutive matches.
LENDING A HELPING FOOT
The Highlanders 40 assists during the 2012 season smashed the program record for the most in the Division I history of the program, besting the 2010 and 2011 squads which recorded 25 assists each. This season, the Highlanders have 17 assists in 17 matches.
| Single-Season Team Assists | ||
| 40 | 2012 | |
| 25 | 2010 | |
| 25 | 2011 | |
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
UC Riverside's 37 goals in 2012 also obliterated the program's Division I era record originally set by the 2004 squad and later tied by the 2011 version. This season the Highlanders have 16 goals in 17 matches.
| Single-Season Team Goals | ||
| 37 | 2012 | |
| 28 | 2004 | |
| 28 | 2011 | |
EZ-PASS
Last season, Juan Mendoza, Eric Gonzalez and Otis Earle each found their way into UC Riverisde's single-season assist records list finishing tied for first (8), tied for third (7) and fifth (6) respectively.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With a 7-1-0 mark in non-conference matches in 2012, the Highlanders set the program record for non-conference wins in a season established the previous season when UC Riverside finished the non-conference portion of their season with a 5-2-1 mark. Over the past three seasons, UCR is 17-5-3 in non-conference matches.
A NEW SET OF GOALS
In 2011, 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 used a balanced attack on the offensive side of the pitch last year as 14 different players were responsible for the Highlanders 37 goals. This season, 10 different players have dented the back of the net for UC Riverside.
POSTSEASON PLAY
The Highlanders advanced to their first-ever Big West Tournament in 2011, setting what was then the Division I era record for wins in the process. They were shut out of the NCAA Tournament, however, despite an RPI of 39.
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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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Tuesday, March 24
