Ann Arbor, Mi—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team hits the road this week, traveling to Michigan for the first of four straight matches away from the friendly confines of the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium. The Highlanders take on the Wolverines on Friday, September 9 beginning at 4:30 pm, before heading to Akron for a Sunday, September 11 meeting with the Zips which kicks off at 10 am.
The Highlanders are 1-1-3 on the season, following a 1-1 draw Friday against Southern Utah (
box score/
recap). Jessica Samano scored the first goal of her career in the match, while Alanna Guzman allowed just the one goal in the match to keep her goals against average well below 1.00 at 0.71. Should she maintain that figure throughout the season, it would be the second lowest goals against average in program history, just behind Tawny Poggio who set the school record with a 0.69 GAA in 2004.
Tayler Dragoo leads the UCR offense with two goals on the season. All three of the Highlanders' goal scorers this year—Dragoo, Samano and Nerisse Bugho, have netted the first scores of their careers this season.
Michigan brings a 3-1-1 mark into the UC Riverside match, including a 2-0 victory over #12 Notre Dame. The Wolverines have 11 goals in their five matches led by Ani Sarkisian's four. Reilly Martin and Nicky Waldeck each have two scores on the season, and Martin leads the team with four assists.
Sarah Jackson has four of the team's starts between the pipes, and a goals against average og 0.75. Megan Hinz has the other start in goal this season for the Wolverines, and a goals against average of 1.64.
UC Riverside and Michigan met on one prior occasion—a 1-0 Wolverines win at UCR on September 2, 2011 (
box score/
recap).
Akron enters the week with a 2-3-0 record and takes on Robert Morris at home Thursday before hosting the Highlanders. Chloe Allen has two of the team's seven goals on the season to lead the Zips, while Catie Corrigan and Julia Crowe have two assists apiece. Goalkeeper Annabelle Hegeman has started all five matches on the year for Akron, and has a goals against average of 1.60 to go along with 28 saves.
This is the first meeting between the Highlanders and Zips.
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.
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.
YOU OLD BLANKETY-BLANK
The Highlanders record for shutouts in a season is 10 set by the 2003 team and later tied by the 2005 squad. This year's version has two clean sheets in four matches, and a goals against average of 0.68. The program record for lowest GAA in a season is 0.70 set in 2004.
Alanna Guzman owns a 0.68 goals against average through four matches. If she maintains that average, it would best the program record of 0.69 set by Tawny Poggio in the 2004 campaign.
DRAW!
The Highlanders have three ties through five matches this season. The last time UC Riverside had more than three times on a season was in 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.
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| 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). Alanna Guzman has a goals against average of 0.71 so far in 2016.
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO
The Highlanders are 28-4-2 over the past four 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 this year. They have yet to score more than two goals in a match this year.
RARIFIED AIR
The 2015 Highlanders five conference wins last year tied the program record for most Big West wins in a season.
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| 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.
