Fullerton, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team begins Big West Conference play this week with a road match at Cal State Fullerton on Thursday, September 22 at 7 pm PT. The Highlanders then return home Sunday, October 2 to take on UC Irvine at 6 pm.
UCR has advanced to two of the last three Big West Tournaments, and played for the conference championship in 2013, coming within a goal of making the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the program's 16-year history.
All nine Big West member institutions compete in Women's Soccer, and the top four teams based on total points (three for a win, one for a tie) advance to the postseason.
Heading into the week, UC Riverside (3-5-3) has dropped three straight one-goal decisions, with two of those razor-thin defeats coming in overtime.
Tayler Dragoo leads the team in scoring with four goals and nine points. The nine remaining UCR goals from this year have been scored by nine different players. Goalkeeper Alanna Guzman started 10 of the first 11 matches for the Highlanders, and has a goals against average of 1.28 to go along with a league-high 58 saves.
Cal State Fullerton enters the week with a 3-7-0 record, and has dropped four straight, but those losses have come against Oregon, Arizona State, UNLV and San Diego. The Titans also have early-season losses to SEC opponents Auburn and Georgia on their ledger.
Fullerton has just six goals in its 10 matches this season, and has been shut out seven times. Tala Haddad is the Titans leading offensive threat with two goals and two assists. Jennifer Stuart has eight starts in goal, and a goals against average of 1.19, while Morgan Bertsch has the other two starts and a 0.57 goals against average.
UC Riverside is 5-8-3 all-time against the Titans, and Cal State Fullerton is 5-1-2 over the last eight meetings between the teams.
UC Irvine is 8-3-0 heading into the weekend, and plays at Long Beach State on Friday, September 30 before traveling to Riverside. Two of those losses came in the 'Eaters' last three matches in 1-0 shutout defeats at Utah and Santa Clara.
Kiana Palacios leads the Anteaters and the Big West with nine goals and 23 points. Teammate Noel Baham tops the conference assists leader board with six. Freshman Maddie Newsom has played all but seven minutes in goal for Irvine, and has a goals against average of 0.73.
The Highlanders are 4-11-1 all-time against the Anteaters, but have won two of the last three meetings between the clubs.
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, 2012 (
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 14. That is one assist behind Tyler Cunningham's record of 15.
DRAW!
The Highlanders have three ties through 11 matches this season. The last time UC Riverside had more than three ties in a year was 2009, when they had four draws at season's end. The program record is six, set by the 2005 squad.
BONUS SOCCER
The Highlanders have had five matches this season go into overtime, and they are 0-2-3 in those matches. They were 0-4-0 in overtime matches a year ago, and last won an overtime contest on October 17, 2014 in a 3-2 victory over UC Santa Barbara (
box score/
recap). The program record for most overtime matches in a season is eight set in 2013
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 35-5-2 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 vs. CSU Bakersfield from September 25 of this year (
box score/
recap).
Season
|
Record Scoring
Two Or More Goals |
| 2016 |
2-1-0 |
| 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 nine Highlanders have goals in 2016.
