UC Riverside
UC Santa Barbara
Women's Soccer Hosts UC Santa Barbara And Cal Poly In Race For Postseason Berth
10/15/2014 9:52:00 AM | Women's Soccer
| Highlanders Week Nine | |
| vs. UC Santa Barbara | vs. Cal Poly |
| October 17, at 6:00 pm | October 19, at 1:00 pm |
| Live Stats Link | Live Stats Link |
| Click To Purchase Tickets | Click To Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—There are four matches remaining on the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team's regular season schedule as the battle for Big West Tournament positioning heats up. The Highlanders will have the opportunity to move up the ranks this weekend as they host two teams ahead of them in the standings—UC Santa Barbara on Friday, October 17 at 6 pm PT and Cal Poly on Sunday, October 19 at 1 pm.
Last season, UC Riverside's 4-4-0 mark and 12 points was good enough for the number three seed, and it will likely take a similar point total to reach the postseason again in 2014. The Highlanders are 1-2-1 midway through conference play, and can reach or surpass that 12-point figure by going at least 2-0-2 over their final four matches. If they lose a match down the stretch, they would need to win their other three contests to reach that mark.
UCR went 1-1 last week picking up a 1-0 victory over visiting UC Irvine (box score/recap/video recap) and falling on the road by an identical 1-0 score at CSUN (box score/recap).
UC Santa Barbara is tied for second place in the Big West, but is just two points ahead of the Highlanders at 2-2-0. After dropping their first two matches of the 2014 Big West season, the Gauchos bounced back with a pair of wins last week—2-1 vs. Hawai'i and 3-2 in double overtime against UC Davis.
UCSB ranks second in the conference in goals per match this season. Angelisa Cortez (5 goals) and Sara Feder (4 goals) lead the Gauchos scoring attack. Beth Ritter has been the team's primary goalkeeper in 2014 with a 0.95 goals against average and 36 saves.
The Highlanders are 3-11-0 all-time against UC Santa Barbara (view results), but the teams have split their past two meetings with each squad picking up a 1-0 decision on their home pitch.
Cal Poly is also 2-2-0 on the year after splitting contests last week against UC Davis (L, 2-0) and Hawai'i (W, 2-0). The Mustangs travel to UC Irvine Friday before making their way to the Inland Empire.
Poly's Elise Krieghoff leads the Big West with 11 goals on the season, nearly doubling the output of the rest of her teammates combined. The Mustangs' six scores in four conference matches are tops in the Big West. Alyssa Giannetti has spent the majority of the season between the pipes for Cal Poly, and she brings a GAA of 1.28 and 60 saves into the weekend.
The Highlanders are 2-7-4 all-time against Cal Poly (view results). The Mustangs won last year's match by a 3-1 score (box score/recap).
| Highlanders vs. Gauchos and Mustangs | |||||||||||
| UC Riverside | UC Santa Barbara | Cal Poly | |||||||||
| 2014 Stats & Record | 6-5-3, 1-2-1 | 8-5-2, 2-2-0 | 7-8-0, 2-2-0 | ||||||||
| Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | |||||||||
| Roster | Roster | Roster | |||||||||
| Current Streak | L 1 | W 2 | W 1 | ||||||||
| Last Box Score | L, 1-0 at CSUN | W, 3-2 vs. UC Davis | W, 2-0 at Hawai'i | ||||||||
| Next Opponent | at Cal State Fullerton October 26 at 6 pm PT | at UC Irvine October 19 at 1 pm PT | vs. UC Santa Barbara October 26 at 12 pm PT | ||||||||
| Top Scorer x x x x |  | Tyler Cunningham Junior 3 goals, 6 assists 12 points |  | Angelisa Cortez Junior 5 goals, 3 assists 13 points |  | Elise Krieghoff Junior 11 goals, 1 assist 23 points | |||||
 | Banca Barrio Sophomore 3 goals, 6 assists 12 points | ||||||||||
| Top Goalkeeper x x x x |  | Elizabeth Silas Junior 14 matches 1.17 gaa, 52 saves |  | Beth Ritter Junior 14 matches 0.96 gaa, 36 saves |  | Alyssa Giannetti Junior 15 matches 1.28 gaa, 60 saves | |||||
| Record vs. | 3-11-0 (results) | 2-7-4 (results) | |||||||||
| Current Streak vs. | L 1 | L 1 | |||||||||
GAME NOTES
THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT
One year ago, Big West coaches picked the Highlanders to finish last in the conference. UC Riverside finished third and advanced to the Big West Championship Game before falling to Cal State Fullerton via penalty kicks. This year, Big West coaches again picked the Highlanders to finish last. UC Riverside currently has the highest overall winning percentage in the league with a record of 6-5-3.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH
The Highlanders advanced to the Championship Match of the Big West Conference Tournament in 2013 tying Cal State Fullerton, 1-1, before falling in penalty kicks (box score/recap). This marked the second time in UC Riverside's 13-year history that the team made it to the league title game. In 2005, they dropped a 4-1 decision to those same Titans (box score/recap).
COACH OF THE YEAR
UC Riverside Head Coach Nat Gonzalez was named the Big West Coach of the Year at the conclusion of the 2013 regular season after leading the Highlanders to a third place conference finish. Prior to the season, Big West coaches picked UC Riverside to finish last.
RARIFIED AIR
The 2013 Highlanders four wins in conference were the second most in the history of the program. The 2003 squad went 5-3-1 en route to a third place Big West finish, while the 2002 and 2005 teams also each won four matches.
| Season | W | L | T | Pts | Place |
| 2003 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 16 | Third |
| 2005 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 15 | Second |
| 2002 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 13 | Sixth |
| 2013 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 12 | Third |
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Big West coaches named UC Riverside junior forward Tyler Cunningham to the preseason All-Conference Team (story) while College Sports Madness.com selected Tyler to its Preseason All-Big West Second Team, and sophomore midfielder Sammy Arellano and junior defender Briana Thomasson to the First Team (story).
FEELING A LITTLE RANK
For the first time in the history of the program, the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team is ranked in the NSCAA West Region. They moved back up to fifth place this week which ties their highest ranking of the year.
HIGHLANDERS HARDWARE
Tyler Cunningham was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player at the UNLV Rebel Classic after leading the Highlanders to a 2-0 record and the Tournament Championship (story). She scored a goal and dished out two assists on the weekend. In addition to being named Most Outstanding Player, the Fairfield, CA native was named Most Outstanding Offensive Player and to the All-Tournament Team. Alina Cheatham and Amber Marani also earned All-Tournament honors.
The Big West named Cunningham the conference Offensive Player of the Week (story), and CollegeSportsMadness.com named her the Madness Big West Women's Soccer Player of the Week (story).
Blanca Barrio joined Cunningham as a 2014 recipient of Big West Offensive Player of the Week accolades when the conference honored her for her play from September 8-14 (story). She scored two goals and handed out a pair of assists in the Highlanders 3-0 and 4-0 blankings of Northern Iowa and Bakersfield respectively.
Elizabeth Silas picked up her second career Big West Defensive Player of the Week nod on September 29 following a week that saw her record her third complete-game shutout of the season vs. Duquesne, collecting six saves including the stop of a penalty kick early in the first half (box score/recap/video recap). She then helped the Highlanders nearly engineer an upset of sixth-ranked Texas Tech, recording four saves, but UCR came up just short in a 3-2 defeat (box score/recap). College Sports Madness later named her the Big West Player of the Week as well (story).
LENDING A HELPING FOOT
Blanca Barrio and Tyler Cunningham each have six assists on the season, tying the school record set by Vanessa Chanez and Amber Plumlee in 2004.
RARIFIED AIR II
The Highlanders are 6-5-3. The last time they boasted a better record through 12 matches was in 2007 when they were 8-5-1.
YOU OLD BLANKETY-BLANK
The Highlanders have six shutouts in 2014 which is the most for the program since the 2009 squad recorded eight clean sheets.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
With 24 goals through 14 matches, UC Riverside has already topped its entire scoring output from the 2013 season.
With 25 assists through 14 matches, the 2014 squad already ranks second in history of the program for most assists in a season.
| Single-Season Team Goals | Single-Season Team Assists | |||||||
| Season | Matches | Goals | Projected | xxxxxxxxxxxxx | Season | Matches | Assists | Projected |
| 2004 | 19 | 45 | 2004 | 19 | 39 | |||
| 2002 | 19 | 36 | 2014 | 14 | 25 | 32 | ||
| 2008 | 20 | 32 | ||||||
| 2003 | 21 | 31 | ||||||
| 2005 | 21 | 28 | ||||||
| 2006 | 18 | 26 | ||||||
| 2014 | 14 | 24 | 31 | |||||
FOUR SCORES AND SIX YEARS AGO
The Highlanders scored four goals in a match on August 24, 2014 beating Northern Arizona by a score of 4-2 (box score/recap). On September 12, 2014, they dropped a quad on Bakersfield in a 4-0 victory (box score/recap/video recap). The last time UCR scored more than four goals in a match was in a 5-0 season-opening win over Southern Utah on August 22, 2008 (box score/recap).
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Fourteen different Highlanders have dented the back of the net so far in 2014, which is the most since 15 players scored during the 2003 campaign.
