UC Riverside
Long Beach State
Women's Soccer Honors Seniors Prior To Season Finale vs. Long Beach State
10/30/2014 8:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
| Highlanders Week Eleven |
| vs. Long Beach State |
| November 2, at 2:00 pm |
| Live Stats Link |
| Click To Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team is honoring its senior class this Sunday as Kaitlin Anzalone, Shelley Brumbaugh, Alex Duran, Jade Vehawn and Celina Valencia all suit up for the Highlanders for the final time. Kickoff against Long Beach State at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium is at 2 pm PT.
Unfortunately for UCR, last weekend's 1-0 loss at Cal State Fullerton (box score/recap) eliminated them from postseason competition. The 49ers have clinched a spot in the Big West Tournament, and can still win the conference regular season title. There is still one spot up for grabs in the tourney, with CSUN and UC Irvine still duking it out.
2014 Big West Women's Soccer Standings through October 29 | ||||
| W | L | T | Pts | |
| Cal Poly $ | 5 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| Long Beach State $ | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 |
| Cal State Fullerton $ | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| CSUN | 4 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| UC Davis ^ | 2 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| UC Riverside ^ | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 |
| UC Irvine | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| UC Santa Barbara ^ | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Hawai'i ^ | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 |
Long Beach State has won three straight matches, all by way of shutout, and has a six-match unbeaten streak entering the weekend. The 49ers have allowed just one goal in those six matches.
Ashley Gonzales (8 goals), Vania Robles (4) and Mimi Rangel (3) have accounted for 15 of the teams 19 goals on the season. Ashton McKeown has played every minute in goal for the Beach, and boasts a goals against average of 0.78 to go along with 74 saves.
The Highlanders are 3-7-4 all-time against Long Beach State (view results), with their third win in the series coming last season in the form of a 2-1 victory (box score/recap).
| Highlanders vs. 49ers | |||||||||
| UC Riverside | Long Beach State | ||||||||
| 2014 Stats & Record | 7-7-3, 2-4-1 | 8-5-5, 4-1-2 | |||||||
| Schedule | Schedule | ||||||||
| Roster | Roster | ||||||||
| Conference | Big West | ||||||||
| Current Streak | L 2 | W 3 | |||||||
| Last Box Score | L, 1-0 vs. Cal State Fullerton | W, 1-0 at CSUN | |||||||
| Next Opponent | NA | Big West Tournament | |||||||
| Top Scorer x x x x |  | Tyler Cunningham Junior 3 goals, 9 assists 15 points |  | Ashley Gonzales Freshman 8 goals, 2 assists 18 points | |||||
| Top Goalkeeper x x x x |  | Elizabeth Silas Junior 17 matches 1.31 gaa, 68 saves |  | Ashton Mckeown Sophomore 18 matches 0.78 gaa, 74 saves | |||||
| Record vs. | 3-7-4 (results) | ||||||||
| Current Streak vs. | W 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 an overall record of .500 or above this season.
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
This season, for the first time in the history of the program, the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team found themselves ranked in the NSCAA West Region. The Highlanders peaked at fifth midway through the year.
MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH
Each of the Highlanders last six losses have been by just one goal.
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 eight matches, and has assisted on six of the Highlanders last eight scores.
RARIFIED AIR II
The Highlanders are 7-7-3. The last time they boasted a better record through 16 matches was in 2006 when they were 9-7-1.
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 29 goals through 17 matches, UC Riverside is now the fifth most prolific scoring team in program history. With 31 assists through 17 matches, the 2014 squad is in second place on the single-season assists chart.
| 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 | 17 | 31 | 33 | ||
| 2008 | 20 | 32 | ||||||
| 2003 | 21 | 31 | ||||||
| 2014 | 17 | 29 | 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
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.
