Santa Barbara, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team has three matches left on the regular season docket, and is tied with Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara for third place in the Big West heading into this weekend's matches. The Highlanders hit the road for their next two matches, taking on the Gauchos on Friday, October 23 at 7 pm PT and Cal Poly on Sunday, October 25 at 1 pm.
| Team | W | L | T | Pts |
| Cal State Fullerton | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| CSUN | 3 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| UC Riverside | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| Long Beach State | 3 | 2 | 9 | 9 |
| UC Irvine | 2 | 2 | 9 | 6 |
| UC Davis | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Cal Poly | 1 | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| Hawai'i | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
UCR split its two matches last week picking up a 2-1 victory on the road at the Beach (
box score/
recap) before dropping a tough 1-0 decision to Cal State Fullerton (
box score/
recap). Blanca Barrio scored both of the Highlanders' goals against the 49ers earning Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors in the process (
story), but UC Riverside will be without her services on Friday as she picked up a pair of yellow cards in the match against the Titans. She leads UCR in scoring this year with five points and six assists for 16 points.
UC Santa Barbara won both of its matches last week, beating Cal Poly, 4-0, and UC Davis, 2-1, to move into a tie for third. Although the Guahcos, Highlanders and 49ers all have nine points on the season, UCSB has played one less match than UCR and LBSU.
Mallory Hromatko leads the Gauchos offense with seven goals an four assists. Sara Feder (3 goals, 4 assists), Jessica Parque (4 goals, 2 assists) and Syndey Magnin (3 goals) also serve as primary offensive weapons for the Gauchos.
Jacq Caginia (0.71 GAA in eight matches) and Beth Ritter (0.86 GAA in nine matches) have split time in goal this season for UCSB. Combined, the duo has had to make just 36 saves in 15 matches.
The Highlanders are 4-11-0 all-time against the Gauchos, but have won two of the last three meetings between the clubs including a 3-2 overtime victory a year ago (
box score/
recap).
Cal Poly began the 2015 season with a 4-2-5 record, but have gone just 1-4-0 since the start of Big West play. The Mustangs lone conference victory came over Hawai'i on October 4. They have been outscored 8-1 over their last three matches. Cal Poly hosts UC Irvine on Friday before hosting the Highlanders.
Caitlyn Kreutz (7 goals, 1 assist) is one of three Mustangs with 10 or more points on the season along with Elise Krieghoff (5 goals, 1 assist), and Megan Abutin (3 goals, 5 assists). Alyssa Giannetto has played all but 19 minutes in goal for Cal Poly, and boasts a 1.11 goals against average with 83 saves.
The Highlanders are 2-8-4 all-time against the Mustangs. Their last win in the series came in 2011.
| Highlanders vs. Gauchos and Mustangs |
| UC Riverside | UC Santa Barbara | Cal Poly |
| 2015 Stats & Record | 9-7-0, 3-2-0 | 10-4-1, 3-1-0 | 5-6-5, 1-4-0 |
| Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results | Schedule & Results |
| Roster | Roster | Roster |
| Conference | Big West | Big West | Big West |
| Current Streak | L 1 | W 2 | L 3 |
| Last Box Score | L, 1-0 vs. Cal State Fullerton | W, 2-1 at UC Davis | L, 4-0 at UC Santa Barbara |
| Next Opponent | October 28 vs. CSUN | October 25 vs. UC Irvine | November 1 vs. Cal State Fullerton |
| Top Scorer | | Blanca Barrio
Senior
5 goals, 6 assist
16 points | Mallory Hromatko
Freshman
7 goals, 4 assists
18 points | Caitlyn Kreutz
Freshman
7 goals, 1 assist
15 points |
Top Goalkeeper
x
x
x
x | | Elizabeth Silas
Senior
16 matches
0.93 gaa, 57 saves | Jacq Caginia
Junior
8 matches
0.71 gaa, 17 saves | Alyssa Giannetti
Senior
16 matches
1.11 gaa, 83 saves |
| Record vs. | | 4-11-0 (view results) | 2-8-4 (view results) |
| Current Streak vs. | | W 1 | L 2 |
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 six assists this season giving her 12 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 one more win over their final three 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 | 9 | 7 | 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. They also won three straight from October 9 through 16. 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 27-3-2 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 |
| 2015 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 9 | |
PRESEASON ACCOLADES
Big West coaches named UC Riverside junior forward Tyler Cunningham to the preseason All-Conference Team.
A PERFECT 10
The Highlanders honored 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, and a goals against average of 0.93. 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 23 goal and 22 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 23 total scores for the team this season.
