San Luis Obispo, CA—The UC Riverside Women's Soccer Team has just one match remaining on its regular season schedule, but their postseason possibilities are only slightly clearer following their 2-0 victory over Cal Poly Sunday afternoon.
UC Santa Barbara defeated UC Irvine this afternoon, 1-0, to move into sole possession of first place for at least a few hours. Cal State Fullerton hosts CSUN today at 5 pm PT, and Long Beach State hosts Hawai'i at 6 pm.
| Team | W | L | T | Pts |
| UC Santa Barbara | 5 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| Cal State Fullerton * | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| Long Beach State * | 4 | 2 | 0 | 12 |
| CSUN * | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| UC Riverside | 4 | 3 | 0 | 12 |
| UC Davis | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 |
| UC Irvine | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Cal Poly | 2 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| Hawai'i * | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| * results from Sunday not included |
The Highlanders close out Big West play on Thursday, October 29 with a home match against CSUN. A win would give them any tie-breaker over the Matadors, and UCR owns the tiebreaker against Long Beach State as well. The 49ers finish the regular season with a home match against UC Davis on Thursday. Cal State Fullerton still has matches against UC Santa Barbara on October 29 and at Cal Poly on November 1.
All of which means it could come down to the final day of the season to determine the Highlanders' fate.
Brittany Mata and Tyler Cunningham kept UC Riverside in the discussion with goals in the first half and second half respectively against Cal Poly. Mata's score came in the ninth minute as she beat the on-rushing keeper to the right side for her second goal of the year.
Less than four minutes into the second half, Cunningham gave the Highlanders some additional breathing room with her seventh goal of the season which came on a header from an Amber Marani free kick (
watch video of both goals).
The win improved UC Riverside's overall record to 10-8-0 marking the first time since the 2006 campaign that the Highlanders have reached double digits in victories.
