UC Riverside
San Diego
Men's Soccer Travels To San Diego For Single Match This Weekend
9/12/2013 4:43:00 PM | Men's Soccer
| September 13 | 7:00 pm | at San Diego | Live Stats | Watch Live | Purchase Tickets |
San Diego, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team plays just one match this weekend traveling to San Diego Friday for a 7 pm PT meeting with the Toreros.
The Highlanders remain unbeaten (4-0-0) after a 2-0 weekend at the UNLV Nike Invitational with victories over Georgia State (Box Score/Recap) and Bradley (Box Score/Recap). They are also beginning to gain some national recognition for their efforts as TopDrawerSoccer.com has UC Riverside receiving votes in this week's Top-25 Poll.
San Diego is 1-2-0 on the season after snapping a two-match, season-opening losing streak with a 2-1 victory over the weekend against Cal State Fullerton. The Toreros opened the season with a 5-0 loss at San Diego State and a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Cal State Northridge.
USD and UC Riverside have met on four previous occasions with the Toreros winning all four. Their most recent match was played on September 12, 2006 and saw San Diego come away with a 3-1 victory (Box Score/Recap).
| Highlanders vs. Toreros Match Capsule | ||||
| UC Riverside | San Diego | |||
| 2013 Record & Stats | 4-0-0 | 1-2-0 | ||
| Schedule | Schedule | |||
| Roster | Roster | |||
| Conference | Big West | Independent | ||
| Current Streak | W 4 | W 1 | ||
| Most Recent Box Score | W, 3-2 vs. Bradley | W, 3-2 (2 OT) vs. Cal State Fullerton | ||
| Next Opponent | September 19 at CSU Bakersfield | September 15 at UCLA | ||
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Top Scorer 2013 Stats x x x x |
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Romario Lomeli Freshman 3 goals, 1 assist 7 points |
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Darragh Vieyra Sophomore 1 goal, 1 assist 3 points |
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Top Goalkeeper 2013 Stats x x x x |
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KC John Junior 4 matches 0.50 GAA, 9 saves |
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Michael D'Arrigo Senior 3 matches 1.65 GAA, 8 saves |
| All-Time Record vs. | 0-4-0 (All-Time Results) | |||
| Current Streak | ||||
GAME NOTES
UNDEFEATED
It's deja vu all over again as for the second season in a row, the Highlanders have won their first four matches of the season. Last year, UC Riverside won its first seven matches, 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.
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.
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 votes for the first time this season.
| (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 |
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. The last UC Riverside player to do it was Richie Osborne who scored a pair at UC Irvine on October 31, 2012.
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 recorded five shutouts in the team's first seven matches in 2012, but didn't record a shutout over the final 11 matches of the year.
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.
| 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.
| 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.
THREE OF A KIND
Juan Mendoza was credited with three assists in the Highlanders 4-1 victory over UC Irvine on October 17, 2012 becoming just the fourth player in the Division I history of the program to accomplish the feat.
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 16-3-1 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.
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.
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.
