Houston, TX—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team remains on the road this week as the Highlanders take their first-ever trips to Houston on Friday, September 16 at 5 pm PT, and to #11 Texas A&M on Sunday, September 18 at 4 pm.
UCR split its matches over the weekend, finishing off with a 3-0 win at Akron to improve to 2-2-3. Redshirt freshman Annie Bailey
(Rancho Cucamonga, CA) got her first start in goal in the win, and recorded seven saves in the shutout victory.
Tayler Dragoo
(La Habra, CA) leads the team with two goals on the season, while a trio of Highlanders—Blanca Barrio
(San Bernardino, CA), Quinley Quezada
(Rosemead, CA) and Madeline Feist
(North Vancouver, BC, Canada)—scored their first goals of the season in the win over the Zips.
Houston is undefeated this season with a 3-0-1 record. The Cougars' lone tie of the year came in a scoreless affair against Texas State on August 28.
Hannah Dauzat has four scores on the season to lead Houston's offense, while Selena Peters has three goals and two assists. Rachel Estopare has played the entirety of the season in goal for the Cougars, and has allowed just one goal in 360 minutes of action.
Texas A&M is 5-2-0, and ranked 11th in the nation heading into the weekend. The Aggies have a home match against Georgia on Friday, September 16 before the Highlanders make their way to College Station. A&M's two losses on the year are both to ranked opponents—1-0 to #1 Florida State on August 19, and 1-0 to #15 UCLA on August 26.
Texas A&M has 12 goals in seven matches this season led by Hailey Pounds four scores and three assists. Danielle Rice has played all 630 minutes in goal for the Aggies and owns a goals against average of 0.43.
GAME NOTES
THOSE WHO DO NOT STUDY HISTORY ARE DOOMED TO REPEAT IT
Three 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.
Two years ago, 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.
Last season, conference coaches pegged UC Riverside to come in eighth place, and they finished fourth, advancing to their second conference tournament in three years.
This year, the Highlanders are picked to finish sixth. When will they ever learn.
DAZZLING DEBUT
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Annie Bailey made her Highlanders debut in a 3-0 shutout victory at Akron on September 11 (
box score/
recap). The last member of the Highlanders to toss a shutout in their first start between the pipes was Sara Slaughter who blanked Pacific on October 9, 20122 (
box score/
recap).
LENDING A HELPING FOOT
In just two-plus years with the Highlanders, Blanca Barrio ranks second on the Highlanders' career assists chart with 13. That is two assists behind Tyler Cunningham's record of 15.
DRAW!
The Highlanders have three ties through seven matches this season. The last time UC Riverside had more than three ties in a season was 2009 when they had four draws at year's end. The program record is six set by the 2005 squad.
SEVEN YEAR ITCH
Tyler Cunningham's seven goals last year were the most for a member of the Highlanders since Tessa Lennala netted 11 back in the 2009 campaign.
DOUBLE DIGITS
The Highlanders reached the 10-win plateau last year for the first time since the 2006 season.
| Year |
W |
L |
T |
| 2004 |
13 |
2 |
3 |
| 2003 |
11 |
7 |
3 |
| 2005 |
11 |
4 |
6 |
| 2015 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
| 2002 |
10 |
8 |
1 |
| 2006 |
10 |
7 |
1 |
GONE STREAKING
The Highlanders won three straight matches from August 30 through September 6, 2015. That marked the first time UCR won three straight since the 2009 season. They also won three straight from October 9 through 16, 2015. The last time UC Riverside won four matches in a row was early in the 2006 season.
ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER
Elizabeth Silas posted a goals against average of 0.94 last season, becoming 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 TWO
The Highlanders are 34-4-2 over the past five-plus seasons when scoring two or more goals in a match. Their last loss when scoring two or more goals was a 3-2, double overtime decision at UC Santa Barbara last year.
Season
|
Record Scoring
Two Or More Goals |
| 2016 |
1-0-0 |
| 2015 |
9-1-0 |
| 2014 |
6-2-1 |
| 2013 |
7-1-0 |
| 2012 |
6-0-1 |
| 2011 |
6-0-0 |
RARIFIED AIR
The 2015 Highlanders five conference wins tied the program record for most Big West wins in a season.
| Season |
W |
L |
T |
Pts |
Place |
| 2003 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
16 |
Third |
| 2015 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
Fourth |
| 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 Blanca Barrio to the preseason All-Conference Team.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
Sixteen different Highlanders dented the back of the net in 2014, which is the most in the history of the program. Twelve different players had 28 total scores for the team last season, while six Highlanders have goals in 2016.
