Highlanders In Week TWO

vs. #17 USC

Friday, August 28, 7:00 pm PT

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vs. Southern Utah

Sunday, August 30, 1:00 pm PT

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Call (951) 827-4653 To Purchase Tickets

Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team returns to the Inland Empire this weekend for its first two home matches of the 2015 season. The Highlanders (1-1-0) host the #17 team in the nation, USC, on Friday, August 28 at 7 pm PT, and Southern Utah on Sunday, August 30 at 1 pm (view promo video).

UCR split its first two matches of the season at the Fullerton Tournament last weekend. Despite outshotting George Washington 15-8, the Highlanders lost, 1-0, in overtime to the Colonials (box score/recap/video recap) in their season opener, but they bounced back to upend Liberty, 3-1, on Sunday afternoon (box score/recap/video recap).

Tyler Cuningham scored a goal and dished out an assist in the win over the Flames. She now has 13 assists for her career, tying her with Renee Scachetti '05 (bio) for the top spot on UC Riverside's career assists chart. The senior set the program record for assists in a season last year with 10.

The Trojans are 1-1 on the year after beating #13 Texas Tech, 1-0, to open the season and falling to #1 Florida State on Sunday, 1-0. Freshman Hailey Hite has the lone score of the season for USC while Sammy Jo Prudhomme has allowed just one goal in 180 minutes.

The Highlanders and Trojans met for the first time a year ago with then 17th-ranked USC beating UC Riverside 8-1.

Southern Utah also split the first two matches of its 2015 campaign falling to North Texas, 2-1, and beating Texas A&M Corpus Cristi, 3-1. The Thunderbirds take on CSUN on the road Friday evening before traveling to the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium on Sunday.

Paige Robins scored two goals and added an assist over the opening weekend, while Ally Thimsen added a pair of goals as well. Taylor Bolding got the start in goal for Southern Utah's first two matches, but allowing two goals in 135 minutes. Her back up, Tessa Christensen, logged 45 minutes in the North Texas match giving up one score.

UC Riverside is 7-1-0 all-time against the Thunderbirds, but their lone loss of the series came in the last meeting between the clubs two years ago.
 

Highlanders vs. Trojans & Thunderbirds
	UC Riverside		#17 USC		Southern Utah
2015 Stats & Record	1-1-0		1-1-0		1-1-0
	Schedule & Results		Schedule & Results		Schedule & Results
	Roster		Roster		Roster
Conference	Big West		Pac-12		Big Sky
Current Streak	W 1		L 1		W 1
Last Box Score	W, 3-1 vs. Liberty		L, 1-0 vs. #1 Florida State		W 3-1 vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Next Opponent	September 4 vs. Houston Baptist		September 4 at Duke		September 3 vs. Dixie State
Top Scorer x x x x		Tyler Cunningham Senior 1 goal, 1 assist 3 points		Hailey Hite Freshman 1 goals, 0 assists 2 points		Paige Robins Freshman 2 goals, 1 assist 5 points
Top Goalkeeper x x x x		Elizabeth Silas Senior 2 matches 0.96 gaa, 4 saves		Sammy Jo Prudhomme Junior 2 matches 0.50 gaa, 7 saves		Taylor Bolding Senior 2 matches 1.33 gaa, 5 saves
Record vs.			0-1-0 (view results)		7-1-0 (view results)
Current Streak vs.			L 8-1 in 2014 (box score/recap)		L, 1-0 in 2013 (box score/recap)

GAME NOTES
THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT
Two 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.

LENDING A HELPING FOOT
Tyler Cunningham broke the school record for assists last season finishing the year 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. It was the 13th of her career, tying her with Renee Scachetti for the top spot on UC Riverside's career chart. Varrio collected two assists in the same match and now has eight for her UCR career.

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.

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.

MISSED IT BY THAT MUCH
Each of the Highlanders last seven losses, dating back to last year, have been by just one goal.

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.

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 Riverisde also accumulated 33 assists—the second highest total in program history.
 

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 WEALTH
Sixteen different Highlanders dented the back of the net in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program.