Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team (0-9-0, 0-2-0) plays its first conference home matches of the season this week, beginning with an 8 pm PT matchup against Sacramento State (5-4-1, 1-0-1) on Thursday, October 5. The Highlanders will then face UC Davis (4-5-2, 1-0-1) on Saturday at 7 pm.
GAME NOTES
FINDING THE NET
The Highlanders have scored at least one goal in four of their last five outings, including a run of three consecutive matches to end September. They are averaging 1.4 goals per match since putting away a season-high four scores at Grand Canyon back on September 14 (box score/recap).
THE CATALYST
After notching a goal at Cal Poly last Thursday (box score/recap), sophomore forward Anthony Lopez now has team-highs in points (6) goals (2) and assists (2). His team-leading 21 shots are also good for fourth in the Big West. Against Oregon State on September 3 (box score/recap), he provided UC Riverside with its first two-assist performance since Romario Lomeli did it in the Highlanders' most recent win against UC Irvine (Oct. 12, 2016).
THE STRIKER
Junior forward Antonio Lokossou trails closely behind Lopez in offensive production, entering Thursday's match tied for the team-high in goals (2) and having tallied the second-most points (4) on the squad. Lokossou's 14 shots also rank third for UCR.
FIRE AWAY
UC Riverside has reached double-digit shot totals in four of its last five games. The Highlanders are averaging 14 shots per game over their last five contests.
OUT OF THE GATES
For the second consecutive season, the Highlanders scored a goal in each of their first two conference games. Last year, they scored in five straight to open Big West play, their longest streak out of the gates since 2001.
BIG WEST SUCCESS
Last year, the Highlanders tied the program record for Big West wins, finishing with four victories for the third time in four years. Their nine total wins were just one shy of the program's Division I record for 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 |
| 4-5-1 |
2016 |
| Most Wins, Season, Team |
| W-L-T |
Year |
| 10-8-0 |
2012 |
| 9-8-3 |
2013 |
| 9-6-4 |
2011 |
| 9-10-1 |
2016 |
THE SAVIOR
Redshirt senior Goalkeeper
Vincent Morales recorded 102 saves last season, which is the second-highest single-season total in UC Riverside history.
| Most Saves, Season, Individual |
| Saves |
Player |
Year |
| 107 |
Brett Bentley |
2001 |
| 102 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
| 92 |
Cody Suppé |
2011 |
| 83 |
Ryan Schmitz |
2008 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2006 |
| 80 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
He came within one victory of tying the Highlanders' record for most wins in a season, and one clean sheet from tying the record for most shutouts in a season.
| Most Wins, Season, Individual |
| Wins |
Player |
Year |
| 10 |
Ashkan Khosravi |
2012 |
| 9 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
| 9 |
Cody Suppé |
2011 |
| 7 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
| Most Shutouts, Season, Individual |
| SHO |
Player |
Year |
| 6 |
Charles Alamo |
2007 |
| 5 |
Vincent Morales |
2016 |
| 4 |
Ashkan Khosravi |
2012 |
| 4 |
KC John |
2013 |
| 4 |
Charles Alamo |
2004 |
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Midfielder
Romario Lomeli ('17) finished his UC Riverside career as the program's career leader in assists.
| Most Assists, Career |
| Player |
Assists |
| Romario Lomeli |
20 |
| Otis Earle |
14 |
| Andrew Villalobos |
11 |
| Luc Harrington |
11 |
| Jordan Arias |
11 |
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO
Since the 2011 season, the Highlanders are 39-4-2 when they score two or more goals in a match.
| Season |
Record Scoring Two-Plus Goals |
| 2017 |
0-2-0 |
| 2016 |
7-1-1 |
| 2015 |
6-0-0 |
| 2014 |
4-0-1 |
| 2013 |
6-0-0 |
| 2012 |
8-1-0 |
| 2011 |
8-0-0 |
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. They returned to the conference tournament again in 2016 as the three seed in the South Division.
