Riverside—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team (8-10-2, 5-3-0) clinched a postseason berth over the weekend, securing the number three seed in the Big West Conference Tournament with a 4-0 victory over Hawai'i. The Highlanders take on number two CSUN (8-4-7, 4-1-3) in the conference semifinals on Thursday, November 2 at 7:30 pm. The Matadors are the host for all three of this year's tournament matches based on their winning the 2016 Big West regular season championship.
GAME NOTES
POSTSEASON POSITIONING
With their two wins in the final week of play, the Highlanders clinched the number three seed in the Big West Conference Tournament.
| Big West Standings |
|
Team |
W |
L |
T |
Pts |
| 1 |
UC Irvine |
5 |
2 |
1 |
16 |
| 2 |
CSUN |
4 |
1 |
3 |
15 |
| 3 |
UC Riverside |
5 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
| 4 |
Cal State Fullerton |
4 |
3 |
1 |
13 |
| 5 |
Long Beach State |
3 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
| 6 |
UC Davis |
3 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
| 7 |
Cal Poly |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
| 8 |
UC Santa Barbara |
2 |
4 |
2 |
8 |
| 9 |
Hawai'i |
1 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
|
|
RARIFIED AIR
The 2017 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 |
| 2017 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
Tied for Second |
| 2015 |
5 |
3 |
0 |
15 |
Fourth |
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.
YOU OLD BLANKETY-BLANK
The Highlanders' 4-0 victory over Hawai'i on October 29 (
box score/
recap) was the largest margin of victory for UC Riverside in a conference match in the program's history.
NO TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA ON THIS TEAM
The Highlanders' 13 goals in conference play were tops in the Big West this season, and the most the team has ever scored against league competition.
LUCKY SEVEN
The Highlanders' seven goals allowed in eight conference matches were the third fewest in the league this season, and the fewest allowed by a UC Riverside team since the 2005 team gave up four goals in seven matches. The 2003 and 2004 squads each allowed six goals in nine matches.
SPREADING THE WEALTH
The Highlanders have scored 23 goals on the year. Thirteen players have at least one score to their credit, and no player has more than four.
The Highlanders also have 20 assists on the year. Twelve players have at least one assist on their ledger, and no player has more than four.
The balanced contributions continued into conference, where UCR has received 13 goals from 11 different goal scorers, and 10 assists from seven different passers.
OFFENSIVE EXPLOSION
Thanks to three second-half goals, the Highlanders defeated UC Santa Barbara, 4-1 in what is tied for their highest-scoring conference match in program history. Prior to that, 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). The Highlanders also scored four goals in the final game of the 2017 regular season in a shutout of visiting Hawai'i.
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.
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).
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.
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 |
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. They have eight wins heading into the conference tournament this year.
| 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 |
| x |
|
|
|
| 2017 |
8 |
10 |
2 |
THE MAGIC NUMBER IS TWO
The Highlanders are 42-5-3 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 on September 25 of 2016 (
box score/
recap).
Season
|
Record Scoring
Two Or More Goals |
| 2017 |
5-0-1 |
| 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.
