Phoenix, AZ—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer team (0-4-0) closes out its season-opening five-game road trip this Thursday, September 14 against Grand Canyon (1-4-0), before returning to the Inland Empire to take on Vermont in the 2017 home opener. Kickoff Thursday is at 7 pm PT, while Sunday's match gets underway at 11 am.
GAME NOTES
#WINNING
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 |
WRONG WAY STREAK
UC Riverside enters its matchup with Grand Canyon having lost ten straight games, its longest losing streak since 2001, when it lost 11 in a row. The Highlanders' last win was a 3-0 home decision against UC Irvine on Oct. 12, 2016 (
box score/
recap), thanks to one goal and two helpers from graduated senior Romario Lomeli. Prior to the current streak, UC Riverside began its 2016 campaign with a mark of 9-4-1 overall, 4-0-1 Big West.
THE BREAKTHROUGH
UCR fell just short in its final game of the Gonzaga Tournament on Sep. 3, conceding a goal in the 89
th minute before falling 3-2 to Oregon State (
box score/
recap). However, the Highlanders got on the scoresheet for the first time since exhibition play, as junior midfielders Ricardo Ruiz and Edward Benito both put away second half goals to keep the game close.
Ruiz also holds team-highs in shots (7), shots on goal (4) and shot on goal percentage (.571).
DROPPING DIMES
Freshman forward Anthony Lopez provided an assist on each of UCR's goals this season, tying him with Ruiz and Benito for the team-lead in points (2). This was UC Riverside's first two-assist performance since Romario Lomeli did it in the Highlanders' most recent win against UC Irvine (Oct. 12, 2016).
TIME TO STRIKE
This Thursday, the Highlanders face a Grand Canyon side that has started the season 1-4. Despite coming off a pair of narrow losses, UC Riverside enters Thursday's game in perhaps its best form of the early season. After putting away a season-high two goals against Oregon State, the Highlanders held their first ranked opponent of the season, No. 17 Omaha, scoreless for over an hour, before eventually falling 1-0 (
box score/
recap).
PRESEASON FORM
Lopez led the way with two goals in three exhibition games last month, both coming in a 3-3 tie with UNLV (
recap). The Highlanders' other two preseason scores came from Benito vs. UNLV and freshman forward Thomas Evjen (
recap).
THE SAVIOR
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 |
ALMOST HOME
By the end of Thursday's match, UC Riverside will have completed nearly half of its road schedule for the 2017 season. Following the current five-game road trip, the Highlanders will play six more times both on the road and at home. UCR faces Vermont in its regular season home-opener this coming Sunday.
DAZZLING DEBUT
In his first two starts between the pipes as a collegian two years ago, then-sophomore keeper Vincent Morales pitched a shutout vs. San Francisco in a 3-0 victory on September 10, 2015 (
box score/
recap), and allowed just one goal to the number eight team in the nation, UCLA, in a 2-1 overtime win on September 13 (
box score/
recap). He was named the Big West Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts (
story).
Morales earned his second Big West Defensive Player of the Week award on September 5, 2016 following the team's second-place finish at the UNLV Johann Memorial Classic (
story). The Bellflower, California native picked up his third career Defensive Player of the Week Award on September 19 of this year, following the Highlanders' defeat of 20th-ranked Gonzaga (
story).
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 39-3-2 when they score two or more goals in a match.
| Season |
Record Scoring Two-Plus Goals |
| 2017 |
0-1-0 |
| 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.
