Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team (6-10-2, 3-3-0) concludes its 2017-regular season with a Big West Tournament berth in its sights. The Highlanders host UC Davis (4-10-2, 3-1-2) on Thursday, October 26 at 7 pm, PT and Hawai'i (6-8-1, 1-4-1) on Sunday, October 29 at 2 pm. Prior to the match against the Rainbow Wahine, UC Riverside is honoring the careers of its five seniors.
GAME NOTES
POSTSEASON POSITIONING
With two matches left in the regular season, the Highlanders are in fifth place in the Big West. The top four teams make the conference tournament, which is being held this year at Long Beach State on Thursday, November 2 (semifinals) and Sunday, November 5 (championship). With matches remaining against UC Davis and Hawai'i, UC Riverside has its destiny in its own hands, as wins over both teams would clinch a spot for the Highlanders in the postseason.
| Big West Standings |
|
Team |
W |
L |
T |
Pts |
| 1 |
CSUN |
4 |
1 |
2 |
14 |
| 2 |
UC Irvine |
4 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
| 3 |
UC Davis |
3 |
1 |
2 |
11 |
| 4 |
Cal State Fullerton |
3 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
| 5 |
UC Riverside |
3 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
| 6 |
Long Beach State |
2 |
3 |
1 |
7 |
| 7 |
Cal Poly |
2 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
| 8 |
UC Santa Barbara |
2 |
4 |
1 |
7 |
| 9 |
Hawai'i |
1 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Since 2007, when the Big West went to a nine-member conference, a team has needed anywhere from 11 to 18 points to secure one of the top four spots. In five of the last 10 years, 13 points has been enough to make the tournament.
OUT OF THE GATES
The Highlanders earned a pair of road victories to open the conference season, defeating UC Santa Barbara, 4-1 on September 29 (
box score/
recap), and Cal Poly, 1-0 on October 1 (
box score/
recap). They followed that up with a 1-0 home shutout of Cal State Fullerton (
box score/
recap). That marked just the second time that UC Riverside has won its first three conference matches in program history. The 2005 team won its first four Big West matches, and finished the year with a 4-0-3 mark in conference, en route to the program's first NCAA appearance.
ROAD WARRIORS
The Highlanders won three straight matches on the road from September 24-October 1—at CSU Bakersfield, 3-1; at UC Santa Barbara, 4-1; and at Cal Poly, 1-0—prior to dropping a 2-0 decision at UC Irvine on October 15 (
box score/
recap). The only other time in the program's history that UC Riverside strung together three consecutive road victories was in the 2006 season when they beat Air Force, 2-0, (
box score/
recap) on August 27; #22 Fresno State, 1-0, (
box score/
recap) on September 22; and San Jose State, 2-1 (
box score/
recap) on September 24. During that 2006 streak, UC Riverside also won two neutral site matches—vs. Buffalo, 4-1 (
box score/
recap) and San Diego State, 1-0 (
box score/
recap) at UC Irvine.
DON'T STOP ME NOW (I'M HAVING SUCH A GOOD TIME)
UC Riverside won four straight matches from September 24-October 5. That is the longest winning streak since the Highlanders won five straight from October 20, 2006 through September 2, 2007. The program record for consecutive victories is nine from August 27-September 27, 2004.
| Consecutive Wins |
Dates |
| 9 |
August 27-September 27, 2004 |
| 6 |
September 8-27, 2002 |
| 6 |
September 25-October 15, 2005 |
| 5 |
August 27-September 10, 2006 |
| 5 |
October 20, 2006-September 2, 2007 |
SPREADING THE WEALTH
The Highlanders have scored 16 goals on the year. Ten players have at least one score to their credit, and no player has more than three.
The Highlanders also have 14 assists on the year. Nine players have at least one assist on their ledger, and no player has more than three.
The balanced contributions have continued into conference, where UCR has received six goals from six different goal scorers, and four assists from four different passers.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Thanks to three second-half goals, the Highlanders defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-1 in their highest-scoring conference match in program history. The last time UC Riverside scored four goals in any match was on August 30, 2015 in a 4-2 win over Southern Utah (
box score/
recap).
PUT A LID ON IT
UC Riverside has been shutout on nine occasions this season, which is tied for the second most clean sheets against the Highlanders in program history (15 in 2010).
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 |
| 2017 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
|
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
The Highlanders erased a 2-0 deficit at Denver on August 25, emerging with a 2-2 tie after a pair of scoreless overtime periods (
box score/
recap). The last time the Highlanders fell behind by two goals and secured at least a tie was on September 2, 2012. Trailing UTEP 2-0 late in the first, UC Riverside scored a goal just before halftime, and tied the score in the second, before netting the game-winner in the first overtime period for the 3-2 victory (
box score/
recap).
BONUS SOCCER
The Highlanders had six matches last season go into overtime, and they were 0-2-4 in those matches. They were 0-4-0 in overtime matches the previous year, and are 0-2-2 in extra time this season. UC Riverside 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.
BUFFALOED
UC Riverside gave up five goals in the first half to Colorado on August 27 in an eventual 6-0 loss (
box score/
recap). The Highlanders have allowed five goals in a half on two other occasions—at Oregon on September 7, 2007 (
box score/
recap), vs. Long Beach State on September 28, 2012 (
box score/
recap).
The six goals allowed by the Highlanders are tied for the second most scored by a UC Riverside opponent in program history.
UC Riverside's three shots on the day tied for the second fewest in program history. The record low was two shots against those same Buffaloes in their 2005 NCAA Tournament appearance.
DOUBLE DIGITS
The Highlanders reached the 10-win plateau in 2015 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 |
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO
The Highlanders are 40-5-3 over the past six-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 2016 (
box score/
recap).
Season
|
Record Scoring
Two Or More Goals |
| 2017 |
3-0-1 |
| 2016 |
3-1-0 |
| 2015 |
9-1-0 |
| 2014 |
6-2-1 |
| 2013 |
7-1-0 |
| 2012 |
6-0-1 |
| 2011 |
6-0-0 |
GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
The 2016 Highlanders' offense was led by a pair of seniors—Tayler Dragoo (4 goals, 1 assist) and Blanca Barrio (2 goals, 4 assists). Barrio graduated as the Highlanders' career leader in assists. Quinley Quezada (2 goals, 0 assists) and Hailey Maxwell (2 goals, 0 assists) are the team's top returning scorers.
