Riverside—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team begins Big West Conference play this week as the Highlanders host UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, September 29, and Cal Poly on Saturday, October 1. Both matches kick off at 7 pm PT.
The Big West is divided into two divisions—a North and a South—comprised of four teams each. The Highlanders are in the South Division with UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and CSUN, while UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, UC Davis and Sacramento State make up the North Division.
The first two weeks of conference play are made of inter-division matches—one against each team. The final three weekends feature intra-division match-ups comprised of one home and one road match against the three division rivals.
The top three teams in each division based on points (three for a win, one for a tie), advance to the Big West Tournament.
The Highlanders (4-4-1) are coming off of a tough road loss at San Francisco, which saw them battle back from 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to send the match into overtime. The Dons were awarded a penalty kick with 49 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, and converted for the 3-2 victory (
box score/
recap).
Romario Lomeli was credited with assists on both UC Riverside goals in the match, moving him past Otis Earle '14 into sole possession of first place on the Highlanders' career assists chart. He also now leads the conference in assists on the year with five.
UC Santa Barbara is 4-5-0 on the season, and has lost five straight matches heading into the week. They were ranked as high as fifth in the nation prior to their recent skid.
San Diego is the only common opponent that the Gauchos and Highlanders share, with UCSB beating the Toreros, 5-2, and UC Riverside beating them, 2-0 (
box score/
recap). The Gauchos have scored 17 goals in their nine matches, but have been outscored 15-8 during their current losing streak.
Kevin Feucht leads Santa Barbara and the Big West with six goals and 14 points on the season. Teammate Nick DePuy is tied for fourth in the conference with four goals, and fifth in points with nine. Josue España is tied for second in the Big West in assists with four.
Freshman Titouan Le Roux has played all 824-plus minutes in goal this season for the Gauchos, and has a goals against average of 1.96. His 37 saves on the year are the third most in the conference.
The Highlanders are 3-19-2 all-time against the Gauchos, but 2-3-1 over the last six meetings between the clubs. UC Santa Barbara won last year's match, scoring a pair of second half goals in a 2-0 victory (
box score/
recap).
Cal Poly is 2-4-1 on the season, but two of those losses are to top-20 competition—3-0 against #8 North Carolina on August 26 and 2-1 against #5 Wake Forest on August 28. More recently, the Mustangs tied #11 San Diego State, 0-0, and beat #6 UCLA, 1-0. Cal Poly travels to Cal State Fullerton for a Thursday evening match against the Titans before making its way to the Inland Empire.
Justin Dhillon is the Mustangs' primary offensive weapon scoring five of Cal Poly's six goals this season. He ranks third in the Big West in goals, and is fourth in points.
Eric Kam has been the Mustangs' goalie in five of their seven matches, and he has a goals against average of 0.96 with 16 saves. Simon Boehme got the starts in their other two matches, and he has nine saves and a 2.00 goals against average.
UC Riverside is 7-15-2 all-time against Cal Poly with just one win in the last 11 matches. Last season, the Aggies picked up a 2-1 victory over the Highlanders (
box score/
recap).
GAME NOTES
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).
MORALES' SAVES
Goalkeeper Vincent Morales has 48 saves through nine matches this season. If he keeps up that pace for the rest of the season, he will rank among the top five in single-season saves in Highlanders' history.
| Saves |
Player |
Year |
| 107 |
Brett Bentley |
2001 |
| 92 |
Cody Suppé |
2011 |
| 83 |
Ryan Schmitz |
2008 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2006 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
| 48 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
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).
Player
|
Assists |
| Romario Lomeli |
16 |
| Otis Earle |
14 |
| Andrew Villalobos |
11 |
| Luc Harrington |
11 |
| Jordan Arias |
11 |
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO Since the 2011 season, the Highlanders are 35-2-2 when they score two or more goals in a match. After opening the 2016 season with three straight wins when scoring two or more goals, UC Riverside tied San Jose State, 2-2 (
box score/
recap), and lost to San Francisco in double overtime, 3-2 (
box score/
recap).
Season
|
Record Scoring
Two Or More Goals |
| 2016 |
3-1-1 |
| 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 |
September 28, 2011 |
#7 UC Santa Barbara |
| 1,186 |
November 5, 2011 |
UC Davis |
| 1,147 |
November 6, 2013 |
#15 UC Irvine |
| 1,106 |
September 28, 2012 |
#3 UC Santa Barbara |
| 1,036 |
October 21, 2015 |
UC Irvine |
| 1,018 |
September 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 |
