RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Riverside punched its ticket to next weekend's Big West Championship final on Saturday with a 4-1 win over CSUN at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
It was the fourth four-goal game of the year for the top-seeded Highlanders on the most crucial of stages, but the focus swiftly changed to next weekend for UCR head coach Tim Cupello.
"One step closer is the key, but the job is not finished," said Cupello, who was named Big West Coach of the Year for the first such honor in program history. "We have to focus on our recovery and start preparing for our next match. Thank you to the fans who came out. We love playing in front of an exciting and energetic home crowd."
UC Riverside came out aggressive in the opening portion of the semifinal matchup with Noah Lopez chipping the goalkeeper in the fifth minute on the assist from Adrian Meade-Tatum. Leopoldo Hernandez rocketed a shot off the keeper's mitts a few minutes later from point blank in the box.
Hernandez was at it again in the 15th minute, sliding a ball to Andrew Alexander before the cross into the middle rolled all the way to the opposite sideline.
Carlos Gonzalez was forced to come off his line in the 20th minute as CSUN looked to equalize, but the Big West Co-Goalkeeper of the Year beat his defender and was able to clear the danger. Oscar Penate played it into Aleksander Vukovic quickly with an unsuccessful chance at the near post before the Matadors had a near goal of their own in the 23rd minute.
Issa Badawiya got by his defender but was unable to put the finishing touches on the insurance goal in the 28th minute before Penate clipped the right post in the 37th. CSUN found an equalizer near the end of the first half, but UCR ended up bookending the first half with goals in the first and last five minutes as Armando Ibarra found the back of the net for his first Highlander goal.
CSUN and UC Riverside played a 2-1 game for the longest time in the second half of action, but Brendan Clark gave UCR much needed insurance in the 78th minute on a goal from Hernandez before CSUN went down a man with a red card a minute later and a goal with Lopez nearly bagging his second of the night.
Ibarra put the cherry on top in the 89th minute, akin to how the Highlanders won the regular season title just one week prior, notching goal number four on the night to punch UCR's ticket to the Big West final next Saturday. The Highlanders will host either UC Irvine or UC Santa Barbara at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium.
