Long Beach, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team is tied for third place in the Big West Conference, and the Highlanders have ample opportunity to move further up the food chain this week as they travel to Long Beach State (8-3-3, 3-0-0) on Thursday at 7 pm PT and host Cal State Fullerton (10-2-1, 2-1-0) on Sunday at 6 pm.
UC Riverside is also honoring its 2005 NCAA Tournament Team at halftime of the Fullerton match. That incarnation of the Highlanders became the first women's team in the school's Division I era to earn an NCAA Tournament bid after posting an undefeated 4-0-3 record in Big West play and an 11-4-6 mark overall.
Tyler Cunningham is UC Riverside's leading scorer on the year with six goals and three assists. Three of those scores and one assist came last weekend as the Highlanders beat Hawai'i, 2-1, (
box score/
recap) and UC Davis, 3-1, (
box score/
recap). She recorded the game-winning goal in both matches, and now ranks first in UC Riverside history in career assists, third in points and tied for third in goals.
Blanca Barrio recorded a pair of assists over the weekend, and now has six on the season and 12 for her career. Her season total is good enough for second in the conference, and her career total is third behind Cunningham and Renee Scachetti '05.
Elizabeth Silas has played every minute in goal this year for UC Riverside and continues to boast a sub-1.00 goals against average at 0.92.
Long Beach State enters the week with an unblemished conference record, and sits alone atop the Big West standings. They have yet to allow a goal in conference play, and have allowed just seven goals all season long. The 49ers are ranked 26th in the nation in RPI.
Ashley Gonzales leads the Beach with six goals—one third of the team's total of 18. Five of those scores are game-winners. Four other members of the squad have at least two goals on the season.
Ashton McKeown has started all 14 matches between the pipes for Long Beach State, and boasts a 0.48 goals against average and 50 saves.
The Highlanders are 4-7-4 all-time against Long Beach State, but have won each of the last two meetings between the clubs.
Cal State Fullerton has won each of the past two Big West Conference Tournaments and is tied with the Highlanders for third place this season. Their lone conference loss was 1-0 decision at Long Beach State. The team's only other loss on the year came at Washington State in double overtime.
The Titans boast the leading scorer in the conference in Rebecca Wilson (15 goals) and the leader in assists in Christina Burkenroad (7). Burkenroad also has six goals on the season, and Fullerton has a league-best 32 scores this year.
Defensively they have a goals against average of 1.03. Jennifer Stuart has played 10 of the team's 13 matches in goal and has a 0.76 GAA to go along with 33 saves.
UC Riverside is 5-7-3 all-time against the Titans, and each of the last ten matches has been decided by one goal or less.
| Highlanders vs. 49ers and Titans |
| UC Riverside | Long Beach State | Cal State Fullerton |
| 2015 Stats & Record | 8-6-0, 2-1-0 | 8-3-3, 3-0-0 | 10-2-1, 2-1-0 |
| Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results |
| Roster | Roster | Roster |
| Conference | Big West | Big West | Big West |
| Current Streak | W 2 | W 3 | W 2 |
| Last Box Score | W, 3-1 vs. UC Davis | W, 1-0 at UC Santa Barbara | W, 3-0 vs. Hawai'i |
| Next Opponent | October 23 at UC Santa Barbara | October 18 at UC Irvine | October 25 vs. CSUN |
| Top Scorer | | Tyler Cunningham
Senior
6 goals, 3 assist
15 points | Ashley Gonzalez
Sophomore
6 goals, 0 assists
12 points | Rebecca Wilson
Senior
14 goals, 4 assists
32 points |
Top Goalkeeper
x
x
x
x | | Elizabeth Silas
Senior
14 matches
0.92 gaa, 50 saves | Ashton McKeown
Junior
14 matches
0.48 gaa, 50 saves | Jennifer Stuart
Junior
10 matches
0.76 gaa, 33 saves |
| Record vs. | | 4-7-4 (view results) | 5-7-3 (view results) |
| Current Streak vs. | | W 2 | L 1 |
GAME NOTESTHOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT ITTwo years 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. Last year, Big West coaches again picked the Highlanders to finish last only to watch as UCR finished in fifth place, one game out of playoff spot. This season, conference coaches pegged UC Riverside to come in eighth place. When will they ever learn.
GAME-WINNERSTyler Cunningham has four game-winning goals on the season—one off the program record of five set by Renee Scachetti back in the 2005 season.
LENDING A HELPING FOOTTyler Cunningham broke the school record for assists in a season last year finishing with 10—four more than Vanessa Chanez and Amber Plumlee, who set the mark in 2004, and teammate Blanca Barrio, who had six assists last year.
Cunningham picked up an assist in the Highlanders second match of the 2015 season, and added another in the team's 2-1 overtime loss to Arizona, which moved her past Renee Scachetti into the top spot on UC Riverside's career assists chart with 14. Barrio has a team-high four assists this season giving her 10 for her career.
SEVEN YEAR ITCHTyler Cunningham's six goals on the year are the most for a member of the Highlanders since Tessa Lennala netted 11 back in the 2009 campaign.
DOUBLE DIGITSThe Highlanders need two more wins over their final five regular season matches to reach the 10-win plateau for the first time since the 2006 season.
| Year | W | L | T |
| 2004 | 13 | 2 | 3 |
| 2003 | 11 | 7 | 3 |
| 2005 | 11 | 4 | 6 |
| 2002 | 10 | 8 | 1 |
| 2006 | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| 2015 | 8 | 6 | 0 |
GONE STREAKINGThe Highlanders won three straight matches from August 30 through September 6. That marked the first time UCR won three straight since the 2009 season. The last time UC Riverside won four matches in a row was early in the 2006 season.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBERElizabeth Silas has a goals against average of 0.93 this season. Should she keep that figure below 1.00, she would become just the third keeper in program history to record a sub-1.00 GAA. The other two are Tawny Poggio, who did it three times (0.69 in 2004, 0.81 in 2005, and 0.88 in 2003) and Jessica White (0.80 in 2009).
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWOThe Highlanders are 26-3-2 over the past three-plus seasons when scoring two or more goals in a match. Their last loss when scoring two or more goals was a 3-2 decision vs. Cal Poly on October 19 of last year (
box score/
recap).
RARIFIED AIRThe 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.
A PERFECT 10
The Highlanders are honoring the 2005 Women's Soccer Team at halftime of their Sunday, October 18 match against Cal State Fullerton. The 2005 version of the Highlanders became the first women's program in UC Riverside's Division I history to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, and is arguably the greatest team, regardless of sport, in the Highlanders; Division I era.
FEELING A LITTLE RANK
Last season, for the first time in the history of the program, the UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team found itself ranked in the NSCAA West Region. The Highlanders peaked at fifth midway through the year.
HIGHLANDERS HARDWARE
Tyler Cunningham and Amber Marani were both named to the All-West Region Team in 2014 marking the first time since 2004 that the Highlanders had players so honored (story).
YOU OLD BLANKETY-BLANK
The Highlanders recorded seven shutouts in 2014 which is the most for the program since the 2009 squad recorded eight clean sheets. This season, UCR has four shutouts through the first 14 matches, and a goals against average of 0.92. The program record for lowest GAA in a season is 0.70 set in 2004.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
The Highlanders 30 goals in 2014 are the fifth most in the history of the program, and the team's goals per match average is the third highest ever. UC Riverside also accumulated 33 assists—the second highest total in program history. This year, UCR has 21 goal and 21 assists through 14 matches.
| Single-Season Team Goals |
| Season | Matches | Goals |
| 2004 | 19 | 45 |
| 2002 | 19 | 36 |
| 2008 | 20 | 32 |
| 2003 | 21 | 31 |
| 2014 | 18 | 30 |
| | |
| Single-Season Team Assists |
| Season | Matches | Assists |
| 2004 | 19 | 39 |
| 2014 | 18 | 33 |
SPREADING THE WEALTHSixteen different Highlanders dented the back of the net in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program. Eleven different players have 21 total scores for the team this season.
