Saturday, November 9
Riverside, CA
7:00 pm
UC Riverside
3
vs
2
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Gabriel L. Acosta
Men's Soccer Faces UC Davis In First Round Of Big West Conference Tournament
11/9/2013 9:49:00 PM | Men's Soccer
3-2 Come-From-Behind Win Over Cal State Fullerton Sends Highlanders Into Postseason
Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team punched its ticket to the postseason Saturday evening, erasing a 2-0, second-half deficit to beat Cal State Fullerton, 3-2 (box score/video highlights). The Highlanders will travel to UC Davis Tuesday to square off against the Aggies in the first round of the Big West Conference Tournament.
Entering Saturday's match, UC Riverside needed a win or tie against the Titans to secure a spot in the postseason, and a near capacity crowd was in attendance to cheer the Highlanders on. But Cal State Fullerton took the wind out of their collective sails early as Alex Cannas picked up a loose ball in the Highlanders box and slotted it into the right side of the goal with just 2:37 gone in the match.
The Titans outshot UC Riverside 10-3 in the first period, but didn't score their second goal of the night until the 49th minute when Alex Cannes and Steven Ortiz combined to feed Garrett Losee in the right side of the box.
It was starting to look like the Highlanders season was over, ten and a half minutes after Fullerton's second score, Ivan Garcia injected new life into the match taking an Eric Gonzalez pass into the left corner and scoring from 17 yards out to cut the Titans lead in half.
That score got the crowd back into the match, and fired up the Highlanders as well as they began to force the issue on offense. UCR struck again in the 68th minute when Aaron Long and Romario Lomeli combined on a give-and-go in the Titans 18 before Long found Gonzalez on the right side of the box to tie the score at two.
UC Riverside thought it had two chances at the go-ahead score first when Cal State Fullerton goalie Bryan Escalante appeared to handle the ball just outside the Titans box, and another when Lomeli was taken down inside the Fullerton 18, but neither call was made.
With 5:07 remaining, however, Gonzalez lined up for a corner kick sending the ball towards the Titans goal. Escalante punched the ball out, but Philipp Dominique was there to collect it, and punch it home from just since the 18 completing the comeback for the Highlanders.
UC Davis earned the number two seed in the North Division by beating Sacramento State 1-0 Saturday. The winner of the Highlanders-Aggies match will advance to the Big West Conference Semifinals to take on the number one seed in the South, UC Irvine, on November 15.
Entering Saturday's match, UC Riverside needed a win or tie against the Titans to secure a spot in the postseason, and a near capacity crowd was in attendance to cheer the Highlanders on. But Cal State Fullerton took the wind out of their collective sails early as Alex Cannas picked up a loose ball in the Highlanders box and slotted it into the right side of the goal with just 2:37 gone in the match.
The Titans outshot UC Riverside 10-3 in the first period, but didn't score their second goal of the night until the 49th minute when Alex Cannes and Steven Ortiz combined to feed Garrett Losee in the right side of the box.
It was starting to look like the Highlanders season was over, ten and a half minutes after Fullerton's second score, Ivan Garcia injected new life into the match taking an Eric Gonzalez pass into the left corner and scoring from 17 yards out to cut the Titans lead in half.
That score got the crowd back into the match, and fired up the Highlanders as well as they began to force the issue on offense. UCR struck again in the 68th minute when Aaron Long and Romario Lomeli combined on a give-and-go in the Titans 18 before Long found Gonzalez on the right side of the box to tie the score at two.
UC Riverside thought it had two chances at the go-ahead score first when Cal State Fullerton goalie Bryan Escalante appeared to handle the ball just outside the Titans box, and another when Lomeli was taken down inside the Fullerton 18, but neither call was made.
With 5:07 remaining, however, Gonzalez lined up for a corner kick sending the ball towards the Titans goal. Escalante punched the ball out, but Philipp Dominique was there to collect it, and punch it home from just since the 18 completing the comeback for the Highlanders.
UC Davis earned the number two seed in the North Division by beating Sacramento State 1-0 Saturday. The winner of the Highlanders-Aggies match will advance to the Big West Conference Semifinals to take on the number one seed in the South, UC Irvine, on November 15.
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
