Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team is still undefeated in Big West play after going 3-0-1 against the North Division to open its conference schedule. The Highlanders' final six matches of the regular season are against South Division opponents, beginning this week with a Wednesday, October 12 home match against UC Irvine, and a Saturday, October 15 road trip to Cal State Fullerton. Both matches kick off at 7 pm PT.
Big West
Men's Soccer Standings |
| NORTH DIVISION |
| UC Santa Barbara |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
| Sacramento State |
2 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
| UC Davis |
2 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
| Cal Poly |
0 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| SOUTH DIVISION |
| UC Riverside |
3 |
0 |
1 |
10 |
| CSUN |
2 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
| Cal State Fullerton |
1 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| UC Irvine |
1 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
UCR picked up its second and third Big West wins of the season last week with a 2-1 victory at UC Davis (
box score/
recap), and a 2-0 shutout at Sacramento State (
box score/
recap). Stephen Copley was named the Big West Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in holding two of the best offenses in the league in check (
story).
The Highlanders are just one win away from tying the program record for Big West victories in a season, and two wins away from tying the Division I-era mark for overall victories.
Romario Lomeli continues to pace the UC Riverside offense with four goals and six assists. He is second in the conference in assists, tied for second in points and tied for fifth in goals. Vincent Morales leads the Big West in saves and save percentage, and his eight wins on the year are the third most in Highlanders' history.
UC Irvine is 3-10-0 on the season, and 1-3-0 in conference. The Anteaters picked up their first Big West win of the season on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Cal Poly. They dropped their first three conference matches of the year by a combined score of 6-3.
The 'Eaters have scored the second fewest goals in the league with 11 scores in 13 matches. They are led by Luis Leon's three goals and eight points. Thomas Janjigian and Mario Ortiz lead Irvine with three assists apiece.
Irvine also has a league-high goals against average of 1.85. Elliott Farmer has seven starts in goal, while Alex Waldron has the other six. Waldron leads the team with a 1.69 goals against average. Farmer's is 1.98. Those marks are the two highest in the Big West this season.
The Highlanders are 9-19-3 all-time against the Anteaters, but the teams have split their last 10 matches.
Cal State Fullerton is 5-8-0 on the year, including 1-3-0 in conference. After upending Cal Poly 2-1 in their Big West opener, the Titans dropped three straight by a combined score of 6-1. Fullerton has 15 scores on the season, but just five in their last eight matches, and three in their last six.
Alex Hellmann ranks second in the conference in scoring with seven goals. Only five other members of the Titans have scored this year.
Paul-Andre Guerin has 10 of the 13 starts between the pipes this season for Cal State Fullerton, and has a goals against average of 1.28. David Elias has the other three starts, two of which were in conference, and a goals against average of 1.86.
The Highlanders are 11-13-6 all-time against the Titans. The team's split their two meetings a year ago, with each squad winning on the opposing team's home turf.
GAME NOTES
#WINNING
The Highlanders are one win away from tying the program record for Big West wins in a season, and two wins away from tying the Division I-era record for overall wins in a season.
| Most Big West Wins, Season, Team |
| W-L-T |
Year |
| 4-3-3 |
2011 |
| 4-3-3 |
2014 |
| 4-5-1 |
2004 |
| 4-5-1 |
2013 |
| 3-0-1 |
2016 |
| Most Wins, Season, Team |
| W-L-T |
Year |
| 10-8-0 |
2012 |
| 9-8-3 |
2013 |
| 9-6-4 |
2011 |
| 8-4-1 |
2016 |
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Goalkeeper Vincent Morales has 71 saves through 13 matches this season. If he keeps up that pace for the rest of the year, he will rank among the top five in single-season saves in Highlanders' history.
| Most Saves, Season, Individual |
| Saves |
Player |
Year |
| 107 |
Brett Bentley |
2001 |
| 92 |
Cody Suppé |
2011 |
| 83 |
Ryan Schmitz |
2008 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2006 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
| 71 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
He is also challenging the Highlanders' record for most wins in a season.
| Most Wins, Season, Individual |
| Wins |
Player |
Year |
| 10 |
Ashkan Khosravi |
2012 |
| 9 |
Cody Suppé |
2011 |
| 8 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
| 7 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
DAZZLING DEBUT
In his first two starts between the pipes as a collegian last season, then-sophomore keeper Vincent Morales pitched a shutout vs. San Francisco in a 3-0 victory on September 10, 2015 (
box score/
recap), and allowed just one goal to the number eight team in the nation, UCLA, in a 2-1 overtime win on September 13 (
box score/
recap). He was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts (
story).
Morales earned his second Big West Defensive Player of the Week award on September 5, 2016 following the team's second-place finish at the UNLV Johann Memorial Classic (
story). The Bellflower, California native picked up his third career Defensive Player of the Week Award on September 19 of this year, following the Highlanders' defeat of 20th-ranked Gonzaga (
story).
GETTING DEFENSIVE
Stephen Copley was named Big West Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in the Highlanders' victories over UC Davis and Sacramento State on October 6 and October 8 respectively (
story). UC Riverside held two of the highest scoring teams in the league to just one combined goal.
LENDING A HELPING FOOT
Senior midfielder Romario Lomeli moved past Otis Earle '14 into first place on the Highlanders' career assists chart with his first of two assists at San Francisco on September 25 (
box score/
recap).
| Most Assists, Career |
| Player |
Assists |
| Romario Lomeli |
17 |
| Otis Earle |
14 |
| Andrew Villalobos |
11 |
| Luc Harrington |
11 |
| Jordan Arias |
11 |
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO Since the 2011 season, the Highlanders are 38-2-2 when they score two or more goals in a match.
| Season |
Record Scoring Two-Plus Goals |
| 2016 |
6-1-1 |
| 2015 |
6-0-0 |
| 2014 |
4-0-1 |
| 2013 |
6-0-0 |
| 2012 |
8-1-0 |
| 2011 |
8-0-0 |
BREAKING RANKS
The Highlanders beat #8 UCLA, 2-1 in overtime, on September 13, 2015
(box score/
recap). It was the first time that UC Riverside defeated the Bruins (
1-4-0 as a Division I program), and the team's second Division I victory over a ranked, non-conference opponent [2-0 on September 4, 2007 at #21 San Diego State (
box score/
recap)]. The team's third win over a ranked non-conference foe came earlier this season on September 18, when the Highlanders upended #20 Gonzaga, 2-0 (
box score/
recap)
ALL-REGION
The Highlanders have had players named to the All-Far West Region Team in four of the last five years, and in 2015, they had two players honored—Michael Salazar and Norberto Ochoa—each of whom was named to the Third Team.
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 in 2012 by finishing third in the South Division of the Big West, and in 2014 season they earned the number one seed in the South Division.
FEELING GRAND
The Highlanders topped the 1,000 home attendance mark for the fifth and sixth times in program history in 2015.
| Attendance |
Date |
Opponent |
| 2,016 |
Sept. 28, 2011 |
#7 UC Santa Barbara |
| 1,186 |
Nov. 5, 2011 |
UC Davis |
| 1,147 |
Nov. 6, 2013 |
#15 UC Irvine |
| 1,106 |
Sept. 28, 2012 |
#3 UC Santa Barbara |
| 1,036 |
Oct. 21, 2015 |
UC Irvine |
| 1,018 |
Sept.r 25, 2015 |
San Jose State |
GOING PRO
Michael Salazar became the first member of the Highlanders to score in a regulation MLS match on July 2, 2016, netting a pair of goals for the Montreal Impact in their 3-2 victory over New England.
FEELING A DRAFT
The Highlanders have had players selected in the MLS Super Draft in each of the last three seasons, and in the Super Draft or Supplemental Draft in each of the last five seasons.
| Draft |
Student-Athlete |
Team |
Round |
Overall Pick |
| 2016 MLS Super Draft |
Michael Salazar |
Montreal Impact |
2nd |
24th |
| 2015 MLS Super Draft |
Otis Earle |
FC Dallas |
1st |
15th |
| 2014 MLS Super Draft |
Aaron Long |
Portland Timbers |
2nd |
26th |
| 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft |
Jose Diaz |
Chivas USA |
1st |
2nd |
| 2012 MLS Supplemental Draft |
César Diaz Pizarro |
San Jose Earthquakes |
2nd |
25th |
