RIVERSIDE—The UC Riverside Men's Soccer team opens up conference play this week as they head to UC Irvine for a Wednesday night matchup and return home to face Cal Poly San Luis Obispo on Saturday evening.
A LOOK BACK
The Highlanders finished non-conference play with a 5-4-2 record, which included a Top #25 Ranking by Soccer America the week of September 25th. This was the first top 25 ranking for the program since September 2012.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The UC Riverside men's soccer team has found the back of the net 12 times, with 8 different goal scorers. Including 3 goals from junior forward Roberto Garcia-Vargas.
DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE
Goalkeeper Edwyn Gutierrez has been between the posts for all non-conference competitions and is tied for 3rd in the conference with a Goals Against Average at 0.95 per game, as well as Saves with 35, and Shutouts with 3. Gutierrez also received the conference's Defensive Player of the week award during the week of September 16-22nd, as he tallied a career high in saves with 9.
THE SCOOP ON THE 'EATERS
The UC Irvine Anteaters finished their non-conference slate with a 3-4-4 record, tallying 15 goals, but also surrendering 14. Currently UCI ranks last in shutouts, only providing one over the last 11 games.
Goalkeepers Ford Parker, and Jordan Martinez have both seen minutes in the goal, yet Parker has been featured in a majority of the contests as he owns a goals against average of 12 in 10 games (1.10).
On the offensive end the Anteaters have seen a plentiful sharing of goal scoring opportunities, as there are 11 different players who have scored one or more goals during the non-conference season.
THE BATTLE AT ANTEATER STADIUM
Despite not having beat the Anteaters since 2017, the UC Riverside Highlanders are eagerly awaiting an opportunity to reignite the hot streak that began their 2019 season. Both teams faced San Diego, LMU and UCLA in their non-conference schedules with UCI finishing (0-1-2) and UCR finishing (0-2-1), as both teams lost 1-0 to San Diego, respectively. This seemingly tight match up could possibly be a preview for the Big West tournament, as a high-powered offense in UC Irvine, and a dominant defense in UC Riverside go to battle. The game will be played Wednesday October 9th, 7 p.m. at Anteater Stadium in Irvine, CA.
RIDING HIGH FEATURING CAL POLY
Cal Poly arrives to UC Riverside Soccer stadium, already competing in their first conference game of the season, in which they lost 3-1 to UCSB. Prior to however, Cal Poly featured a (4-3-1) non-conference record. Which included an exhilarating 2-1 win over #24 ranked Loyola Marymount.
Cal Poly's Emmanuel Perez has 7 goals on the season, good enough for second best in the conference. Perez also owns the record for most game winning goals with 4. The rest of the team however, has only accounted for 6 more goals. Between the posts has been goalkeeper, Carlos Arce-Hurtado is 6th in goals against average with 1.34 goals per game, 8th in saves per game percentage, and has 2 shutouts on the season.
THE HIGHLANDERS ARE COMING HOME
The Highlanders will look to finish off the weekend 2-0, as they take on Cal Poly. The previous season saw UC Riverside claim a victory over the Mustangs 1-0, on their way to a Big West Conference Championship. Despite the Highlanders and Mustangs being selected 6th and 7th respectively in the Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, both teams will look to finish the weekend on a high note. The game will be played Saturday October 12th, 7p.m. at UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
