Riverside, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team (3-12-1, 3-5-1) erased an early one-goal deficit to defeat UC Irvine (7-8-3, 2-5-2) by a final score of 2-1 Wednesday night, thanks to first half goals by junior forwards
Eduardo Sanchez and
Antonio Lokossou. The win moves the Highlanders into the No. 3 seed in the Big West South Division with just one match remaining in the regular season.
MATCH NOTES
With the victory over UC Irvine (8 points), UC Riverside now has 10 points. If the Highlanders earn another win in their regular season finale against CSUN on Saturday, they will clinch a postseason berth for the fourth time in five seasons. A UC Irvine loss to Cal State Fullerton would also put UC Riverside in the Big West Tournament.
Coupled with Cal State Fullerton's win over CSUN on Wednesday, UC Riverside can now finish no higher than third in the division. If they finish in third, the Highlanders will face the No. 2 seed in the North Division on Wednesday, November 1.
| Big West Men's Soccer Standings |
| SOUTH DIVISION |
| 1 |
Cal State Fullerton |
4 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
| 2 |
CSUN |
4 |
3 |
2 |
14 |
| 3 |
UC Riverside |
3 |
5 |
1 |
10 |
| 4 |
UC Irvine |
2 |
5 |
2 |
8 |
| NORTH DIVISION |
| 1 |
UC Davis |
5 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
| 2 |
UC Santa Barbara |
4 |
2 |
2 |
14 |
| 3 |
Sacramento State |
4 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
| 4 |
Cal Poly |
2 |
5 |
1 |
7 |
Eduardo Sanchez became the first member of the Highlander to score multiple goals in conference play this season with his score in the 11th minute.
Antonio Lokossou joined him in the 41st minute with his second score against Big West competition.
Lokossou's goal was his team-leading fourth of the season—no other Highlander has more than two goals this year. It was also his second game-winner during conference play, putting him in a four-way tie for first in the Big West.
This was UC Riverside's fifth multi-goal performance of 2017. The Highlanders have now won three consecutive home matches, putting away two scores in each victory.
Redshirt senior goalkeeper
Vincent Morales had five saves on the night. It was his ninth consecutive match with four or more saves, the longest of any goalkeeper in UC Riverside's Division I history.
Morales' assist on Lokossou's game-winning goal was the first of his career.
The Highlanders have won seven of the last 13 meetings with the Anteaters, after going 4-15-3 through the first 22 matches of the series.
