RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside returned to the Inland Empire on Wednesday night for the first of three crucial remaining home matches, storming past UC Irvine with a convincing 4-0 scoreline at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium. The win cemented the program's third season in the Big West era with multiple four-goal performances and first since 2014 while giving UCR prime positioning for a top-four spot in the Big West Championships.
Additionally, Wednesday night was chalk full of history as the Highlanders put four goals past Irvine for just the third time in program history. The 4-0 drubbing was also the fifth four-goal performance under head coach Tim Cupello, but the 10th-year head coach had future opportunities on the mind in post-match.
"This was a good result against a good team," said Cupello, who is now tied atop UC Riverside's all-time wins list with 59. "I'm glad we provided some excitement for our home fans. Now we need to continue our focus and preparation as we travel to a strong Sacramento State team."
The Highlanders had trouble containing possession in the better part of the evening's first 20 minutes, but found their offensive legs shortly after. Brendan Clark beat a pair of defenders and played a ball in, but the pass just beat Joel Rivera to the end line. Forceful shots from Andrew Alexander and Noah Lopez followed as UC Riverside's attack began to take shape.
UCR broke through in the 24th minute when Issa Badawiya booted a ball to the back of the net for the 1-0 lead on Andrew Alexander's assist. Badawiya's strike came before the Anteaters could even muster a shot.
Carlos Gonzalez came up big in the 30th minute with a save off a UCI set piece, gently going to his right for the easy but crucial save to maintain the one-goal advantage. The junior played a clinical 90 minutes in goal against UCI with four saves and his eighth career clean sheet on his birthday.
Clark logged his 3,000th career minute with 67 on Wednesday, but not before notching his third assist in as many matches after Luka Lukic struck in the 36th minute for the 2-0 lead. Lukic, on the assist from Leopoldo Hernandez, found the back of the net in his second straight match after scoring the go-ahead goal at Cal Poly over the weekend. Clark later struck twice in a three-minute span to give UCR a 4-0 halftime lead.
Clark's first strike interjected some déjà vu into the series history between UCI and UCR, as the Highlanders of 2016 too jumped out to a 3-0 first-half lead in midweek action - also against the Anteaters. His second trip to the back of the net came on Hernandez's second assist of the night. With the pair of assists, the Sacramento native climbed into the top five in program history with his seventh and eighth assists of the season, and sits one outside the top five in career assists at UCR.
As a team, UC Riverside was one point shy of third in program history for most in a match. Two weeks removed from tying UCR's single-match shots record against CSUN, Clark tied for fifth on the Highlanders' single-match points list with five against UC Irvine.
Badawiya tried for a second goal in the 71st minute working a ball past a defender, but his attempt at the near post was pushed aside for a corner kick that turned into a shot wide of the far post. A second corner shortly after nearly turned into the fifth goal of the night as Hernandez floated it over the crossbar.
UCR will next travel to Sacramento State on Saturday, October 15 for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff from Hornet Field.
