Highlanders In Week Six

at South Dakota

Friday, September 25, 2:00 pm PT

Live Stats

Tickets Sold Day Of Match At Facility

at North Dakota State

Sunday, September 27, 11:00 am PT

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Admission Is Free

Sioux Falls, SD—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team travels to the Dakotas this weekend for its final non-conference matches of the season. The Highlanders take on South Dakota on Friday, September 25 at 2 pm PT, and North Dakota State on Sunday, September 27 beginning at 11 am.

After a three-match winning streak moved UC Riverside two games over .500, the Highlanders battled through the toughest portion of their non-conference schedule dropping one-goal decisions to Cal, 1-0 (box score/recap), Loyola Marymount, 1-0 (box score/recap), and Arizona, 2-1 in overtime (box score/recap).

Tyler Cunningham's assist on Blanca Barrio's goal in the Arizona match was the 14th of her career, moving her past Renee Scachetti for first place on the Highlanders career assists chart. Cunningham broke the single-season record last year with 10.

South Dakota snapped a three-match losing streak on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Northern Iowa to improve to 3-7 on the year.

South Dakota has scored 13 goals in 10 matches this season, led by Sammie Villwock (3 goals, 1 assists, 7 points). However eight of those goals came in two matches—4-0 over Chicago State and 4-3 over Green Bay.

South Dakota gives time in goal to two keepers with Sydney Hardin logging the majority of minutes and posting a 2.17 goals against average with 26 saves in eight matches.

This is the first-ever meeting between the Highlanders and Coyotes.

North Dakota State recently had a three-match winning streak snapped with a 4-3 loss at Northern Arizona on Friday, September 18, but the Bison bounced back Sunday with a 2-1 victory over Grand Canyon.

NDSU has 21 goals in nine matches this season, but nine of those scores came in a 9-0 victory over St. Cloud State. Lauren Miller leads the North Dakota State charge with seven goals and four assists.

Sierra Bonham has played every minute of the season between the pipes for the Bison, and owns a goals against average of 1.61 with 56 saves and a pair of shutouts..

UC Riverside and North Dakota State met on one prior occasion back in 2005 with the Highlanders picking up a 3-0 home victory over NDSU.
 

Highlanders vs. Coyotes & Bison
	UC Riverside		South Dakota		North Dakota State
2015 Stats & Record	4-5-0		3-7-0		5-4-0
	Schedule & Results		Schedule & Results		Schedule & Results
	Roster		Roster		Roster
Conference	Big West		Summit League		Summit League
Current Streak	L 3		W 1		W 1
Last Box Score	L, 2-1 (OT) vs. Arizona		W, 1-0 vs. Northern Iowa		W, 2-1 vs. Grand Canyon
Next Opponent	October 4 at UC Irvine		October 2 va. Oral Roberts		October 2 vs. Omaha
Top Scorer x x x x		Alexa Bustamante Senior 3 goal, 2 assist 8 points		Sammie Villwock Freshman 3 goals, 1 assist 7 points		Lauren Miller Junior 7 goals, 4 assist 18 points
		Tyler Cunningham Senior 3 goal, 2 assist 8 points
Top Goalkeeper x x x x		Elizabeth Silas Senior 9 matches 1.10 gaa, 30 saves		Sydney Hardin Sophomore 8 matches 2.17 gaa, 26 saves		Sierra Bonham Senior 9 matches 1.61 gaa, 56 saves
Record vs.			First Meeting		1-0-0 (view results)
Current Streak vs.			N/A		W 1

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 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.

GONE STREAKING
The 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.

THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO
The Highlanders are 23-3-2 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 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.

A PERFECT 10
The Highlanders are honoring the 2005 Women's Soccer Team at halftime of their Sunday, Ocotber 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 argueably 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 a pair of shutouts through the first nine matches, and a goals against average of 1.10. 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 13 goal and 14 assists through nine 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 WEALTH
Sixteen different Highlanders dented the back of the net in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program. Nine different players have 13 total scores for the team this season.