Oct. 5, 2012
Aggies 1 – Highlanders 0

The UC Riverside men’s soccer team has played great away from the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium this season (5-0). The Highlanders, before traveling to UC Davis in hopes of stealing a win from the Aggies at the Aggie Soccer Stadium, earned a hard fought victory in overtime against Cal Poly 3-2. The UC Riverside men’s soccer team looked to win its second straight game against the UC Davis Aggies this past Friday, however the Highlanders ultimately came up short as they gave up the only score of the game in the 61st minute to lose by a score of 0-1.

UC Davis proved to have more offensive rhythm in this game as the Aggies outshot UCR 16 to 10 in the game. Four of the Aggies’ shots came on goal, while the Highlanders were only able to muster up a total of two.

UC Davis forward Kevin Schulte scored the game’s only goal to give Davis the victory.
This loss ended up being the Highlanders third defeat in four games. UCR has yet to win a game at UC Davis in eight attempts.

Oct. 7, 2012
Hornets 1 – Highlanders 0

UC Riverside continued its weekend road trip as they took on the Sacramento State Hornets on Sunday. But much like the Highlanders’ previous match, UCR was unable to score a single goal and ultimately gave up the only score of the game to its opponent. The Highlanders lost their second straight game by a score of 0-1.

The Hornets’ Max Alvarez was the game’s top performer as he had six of the Hornets’ 14 shots and four of the Hornets’ five shots on goal. In the end, he scored the game’s only goal to give Sacramento State the 1-0 victory.

The Highlanders’ offense struggled to score despite the fact they had more shots (16) and shots on goal (7). UCR failed to score for the second straight time and has lost by the same score as its previous match.

After starting the season with an impressive 7-0 record, UC Riverside has now hit a bit of a slump. This turned out to be the Highlanders’ fourth loss in five games.

It is a drastic change from the performances this team mustered up early in the year. At one point, the Highlanders were ranked as high as 19th in the nation after their terrific undefeated start. Ever since starting conference play, UCR has had difficulty scoring the ball as the Highlanders have been shut out three times in the last five games.

The Highlanders will play one final game on the road next week in hopes of turning things around. UCR will take on Cal State Northridge on Oct. 13 before returning to Riverside for a three-game home stand.