UC Riverside
Cal Poly
Men's Soccer Hosts Cal Poly, UC Santa Barbara In First Big West Home Matches Of Year
10/8/2014 12:07:00 PM | Men's Soccer
| Highlanders in Week Seven | |
| vs. Cal Poly | vs. UC Santa Barbara |
| October 9 at 8:00 pm | October 11 at 7:00 pm |
| Live Stats Link | Live Stats Link |
| Click To Purchase Tickets | Click To Purchase Tickets |
Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team returns to the Inland Empire this week for its first two home conference matches of the year, taking on Cal Poly on Thursday, October 9 at 8 pm PT, and UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, October 11 at 7 pm.
The Highlanders opened Big West play with a 4-0 win at Sacramento State (box score/recap) and a 1-0 loss at UC Davis (box score/recap). They sit atop the South Division standings heading into the second weekend of conference competition.
Michael Salazar continues to lead the UCR offensive, picking up his fourth score of the season in the win over the Hornets. Ashkan Khosravi has a goals against average of 1.20, but he will sit out Thursday's match after receiving a red card at the end of the Highlanders loss to the Aggies on Saturday.
After opening the season with a 4-3 loss at UC Riverside Associate Athletic Director John Maxwell's alma mater, Davidson College, Cal Poly ran off four straight wins. Since then, however, the Mustangs have been a mercurial squad, tying UCLA and UC Irvine, but losing to the likes of Pacific, whom the Highlanders beat 5-1 earlier in the year.
Matt LaGrassa (5 goals, 2 assists), Kaba Alkebulan (4 goals, 2 assists) and Chase Minter (3 goals, 3 assists) lead the second-highest scoring team in the Big West. Goalkeeper Wade Hamilton has a 0.94 goals against average in 11 matches this season.
UC Riverside is 7-13-2 all-time against Cal Poly (view results), including a 5-1 loss on the Mustangs home turf a year ago (box score/recap).
UC Santa Barbara began the season winning just two of its first six matches, but since that time they have run off four straight, including wins over CSUN and UC Irvine in the first weekend of Big West competition.
Brandon Berke has started in goal in each of those last four matches for the Gauchos and has a 0.50 goals against average on the season.
Nick DePuy (4 goals, 1 assist) and Drew Murphy (2 goals, 5 assists) are UC Santa Barbara's primary offensive contributors. The Gauchos have outscored their opponents by a 13-4 margin over the last six matches, which includes a 1-0 loss to UCLA.
The Highlanders are 3-18-1 all-time against the Gauchos (view results), including a 2-0 loss at UCSB last season (box score/recap). UC Riverside did pick up back-to-back wins over the Gauchos during the 2011 season when Santa Barbara was ranked seventh and 15th in the nation.
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| Highlanders vs. Mustangs and Gauchos | |||||||||||
| UC Riverside | Cal Poly | UC Santa Barbara | |||||||||
| 2014 Stats & Record | 2-7-1, 1-1-0 | 6-2-3, 1-0-1 | 6-3-1, 2-0-0 | ||||||||
| xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx | Schedule | Schedule | Schedule | ||||||||
| Roster | Roster | Roster | |||||||||
| Conference | Big West | ||||||||||
| Current Streak | Â L 1 | W 1 | W 4 | ||||||||
| Last Box Score | L, 1-0 vs. UC Davis | W, 2-1 (OT) vs. CSUN | W, 1-0 vs. #3 UC Irvine | ||||||||
| Next Opponent | Â October 18 at CSUN | October 11 at Cal State Fullerton | October 14 at Loyola Marymount | ||||||||
| Top Scorer x x x x |  | Michael Salazar Junior 4 goals, 1 assist 9 points |  | Matt LaGrassa Junior 5 goals, 2 assists 12 points |  | Nick DePuy Sophomore 4 goals, 1 assist 9 points | |||||
 | Drew Murphy Sophomore 2 goals, 5 assists 9 points | ||||||||||
| Top Goalkeeper x x x x |  | Ashkan Khosravi Junior 10 matches 1.20 gaa, 43 saves |  | Wade Hamilton Junior 11 matches 0.94 gaa, 54 saves |  | Brandon Berke Freshman 4 matches 0.50 gaa, 13 saves | |||||
| Record vs. | 7-13-2 (view results) | 3-18-1 (view results) | |||||||||
| Current Streak vs. | L 1 | L 2 | |||||||||
GAME NOTES
LET THE OCTOPI FLY
Michael Salazar became the first player in UC Riverside's Division I history to record a hat trick in the team's season-opening, 5-1 victory over visiting Pacific (box score/recap/video recap). He also added an assist, setting the program's Division I-era record for points in a match as well. The Big West and College Sports Madness honored Salazar with Offensive Player of the Week (story) and Player of the Week accolades respectively (story), while College Soccer News named him to their 12-man National Team of the Week (story).
GIMME FIVE
Ashkan Khosravi earned Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week accolades (story) for the fifth time in his career on September 22 as he was honored following his shutout performance vs. San Diego (box score/recap/video recap).
BUMP IN THE ROAD
After scoring five goals in the season-opener (box score/recap/video recap), the Highlanders scored just two goals in their next seven matches. They exploded for four goals in their Big West opener in a shutout of Sacramento State (box score/recap).
BACK-TO-BACK-TO BACK
The Highlanders recorded their first winning season as a Division I program in 2011, and made it back-to-back-to-back winning campaigns in 2012 and 2013 posting records of 10-8-0 and 9-8-3. Those 10 victories also established a Division I-era, single-season record for the program.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
With a 7-1-0 mark in non-conference matches in 2012, the Highlanders broke 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-plus seasons, UCR is 18-11-4 in non-conference matches, but just 1-6-1 in 2014.
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 advanced to their second conference tournament a year ago by finishing third in the South Division of the Big West.
TAKE ME TO THE TOP
Goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi continues to close in on the Highlanders career wins record. Charles Alamo occupies the top spot in UC Riverside history with 21.
| Career Wins | ||
| Goalkeeper | Years | Wins |
| Charles Alamo | 2003-07 | 21 |
| Ashkan Khosravi | 2012-present | 16 |
| Cody Suppé | 2009-11 | 10 |
Khosravi also recently cracked the top five in career saves for the Highlanders, and is now in third place.
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| Career Saves | ||
| Goalkeeper | Years | Saves |
| Charles Alamo | 2003-07 | 305 |
| Cody Suppé | 2009-11 | 155 |
| Ashkan Khosravi | 2012-present | 142 |
| Josh Alexander | 2001-03 | 118 |
