San Luis Obispo, CA—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer Team (0-7-0) kicks off its 2017 Big West campaign with a pair of road matches. The Highlanders open conference at Cal Poly (4-4-0) this Thursday, September 28 before heading to UC Santa Barbara (2-4-2) on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 pm PT.
GAME NOTES
BIG WEST BEGINS
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 |
ROAD RHYTHM
The Highlanders have scored at least one goal in three of their last four matches away from home. They are averaging 1.75 goals per game on the road since putting up two scores at Oregon State back on September 3 (
box score/
recap).
FIRE AWAY
UC Riverside set a new season-high in shots for the second time in three games this past Sunday, recording 18 at Loyola Marymount (
box score/
recap). The Highlanders have taken 50 shots over their past three games combined, the most in a three-game span since the 2014 season.
TOP STRIKER
After putting away a late goal at LMU, junior forward
Antonio Lokossou now has team-highs in both goals (2) and points (4). He tied a career high with six shots on Sunday, doubling his total for the season.
THE CATALYST
Freshman forward
Anthony Lopez is tied with Lokossou for the team-lead with four points this season, and has taken the most shots (17) on the team. Against Oregon State on September 3, 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 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.
