UC Riverside
Cal State Fullerton
Women's Soccer Continues Postseason Push With Road Trip To Cal State Fullerton
10/23/2014 1:58:00 PM | Women's Soccer
| Highlanders Week Ten |
| at Cal State Fullerton |
| October 26, at 6:00 pm |
| Live Stats Link |
| Live Video Link |
| Click To Purchase Tickets |
Fullerton—The 2014 Big West Women's Soccer regular season doesn't end until Sunday, November 2, but there is no bigger match on the schedule for UC Riverside than this Sunday's road tilt at Cal State Fullerton. Time of the match is 6 pm PT.
Heading into Thursday's matches, the Highlanders (2-3-1) are in fifth place in conference, one point behind the Titans. The top four teams advance to the Big West Tournament, with the winner earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tourney.
Even though the Highlanders trail Fullerton (2-0-2) by just one point, this is a virtual must win for UC Riverside, as the Titans have four more matches on their regular-season docket compared to two for UCR. Cal State Fullerton hosts UC Irvine (1-2-1) Thursday before welcoming the Highlanders to Titan Stadium.
A loss Sunday eliminates UC Riverside from postseason competition, but a Long Beach State loss to CSUN Thursday, coupled with a Highlanders-Titans tie, would keep UCR's playoff hopes alive.
2014 Big West Women's Soccer Standings through October 22 | ||||
| W | L | T | Pts | |
| CSUN | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Cal Poly | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| Long Beach State | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Cal State Fullerton | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| UC Riverside | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| UC Davis | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| UC Irvine | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Hawai'i | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
Cal State Fullerton enters the week's competition with a four-match unbeaten streak, most recently hanging the first conference loss of the season in a 2-1 win at front-running CSUN. The Titans are averaging just over a goal per match this year, and junior forward Rebecca Wilson (8 goals, 0 assists) is responsible for half of their scores. Jennifer Stuart (10 matches, 0.74 gaa) and Morgan Bertach (7 matches, 1.20 gaa) have split time in goal this year for Fullerton.
The Highlanders are 5-7-3 all-time against the Titans (view results) including a tie in the Big West Championship match on November 10 of last year (box score/recap). Cal State Fullerton took home the conference title advancing to the NCAA Tournament over UCR with a 2-1 edge in penalty kicks.
| Highlanders at Titans | |||||||||
| UC Riverside | Cal State Fullerton | ||||||||
| 2014 Stats & Record | 7-6-3, 2-3-1 | 4-7-4, 2-0-2 | |||||||
| Schedule | Schedule | ||||||||
| Roster | Roster | ||||||||
| Conference | Big West | ||||||||
| Current Streak | L 1 | W 1 | |||||||
| Last Box Score | L, 3-2 vs. Cal Poly | W, 1-0 at CSUN | |||||||
| Next Opponent | vs. Long Beach State, November 2 | at UC Santa Barbara. October 30T | |||||||
| Top Scorer x x x x |  | Tyler Cunningham Junior 3 goals, 9 assists 15 points |  | Rebecca Wilson Junior 8 goals, 0 assists 16 points | |||||
| Top Goalkeeper x x x x |  | Elizabeth Silas Junior 16 matches 1.33 gaa, 64 saves |  | Jennifer Suart Sophomore 10 matches 0.74 gaa, 31 saves | |||||
| Record vs. | 5-7-3 (results) | ||||||||
| Current Streak vs. | T 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 is currently in fifth place in conference, and is one of only four teams with a winning record overall.
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 fell back from fifth to eighth place this week.
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
Tyler Cunningham broke the school record for assists last week and now has nine on the year—three more than Vanessa Chanez and Amber Plumlee, who set the mark in 2004, and teammate Blanca Barrio, who has six assists this season.
LENDING A HELPING FOOT 2
Tyler Cunningham has six assists in her last seven matches, and has assisted on six of the Highlanders last eight scores.
RARIFIED AIR II
The Highlanders are 7-6-3. The last time they boasted a better record through 16 matches was in 2005 when they were 10-3-3.
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 29 goals through 16 matches, UC Riverside is now the fifth most prolific scoring team in program history. With 31 assists through 16 matches, the 2014 squad still has a shot at breaking the program record 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 | 16 | 31 | 35 | ||
| 2008 | 20 | 32 | ||||||
| 2003 | 21 | 31 | ||||||
| 2014 | 16 | 29 | 33 | |||||
INSERT CREATIVE NOTE HEADER HERE
The Highlanders have seven goals in six Big West matches this season. The program record for goals in a season during conference play is 12 set by the 2009 squad which played nine conference matches.
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
Sixteen different Highlanders have dented the back of the net so far in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program.
SPREADING THE WEALTH 2
Seven different players have connected on the Highlanders seven game-winning scores this season.
