THE SCHEDULE
Match 8
at RV Cal State L.A. (4-1, 0-0 CCAA)
Friday, Sept. 26 • 4:30 p.m.
Jesse Owens Track • Los Angeles
Live Stats

Match 9
vs. No. 22 Cal Poly Pomona (5-0-1, 0-0 CCAA)
Sunday, Sept. 28 • 11:30 a.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

UCSD EMBARKS ON 11-GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE FRIDAY
The UC San Diego men's soccer team heads into California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play this weekend at 5-2 overall. The Tritons are at Cal State L.A. on Friday, Sept. 26, in a rematch of the 2013 CCAA Championship final, which the Golden Eagles won 1-0 in Turlock last November. The game also features a meeting of two of the top defensive teams in the nation from a year ago, with UCSD fourth in the NCAA Division II in goals-against average (0.52), and Cal State L.A. right behind in fifth (0.54). Kickoff at Jesse Owens Track on the CSULA campus is set for 4:30 p.m.

UCSD then plays host to 22nd-ranked Cal Poly Pomona on Sunday, Sept. 28. That match kicks off at 11:30 a.m., and precedes the Triton women against the Broncos at approximately 2 p.m. Sunday's contest will mark the midway point of UCSD's 2014 regular season. All games this week will have live stats. All regular-season matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend.

NEW YEAR, NEW FORMAT IN CCAA
The CCAA has made changes to its regular-season and tournament formats in men's and women's soccer for the 2014 season. The six-team, two-division alignment is no more, now with just one 12-team league table. Rather than a 16-game regular-season schedule with two matches against divisional opponents and one against out-of-division foes, each team will face one another once, for a total of 11 CCAA contests. The top six teams in the final standings advance to the CCAA Championship, up from four in prior years. The first- and second-place finishers get first-round byes, with those two games held at campus sites of the higher seeds. The venue for the 2014 CCAA Championship semifinals and final was announced last week as Warrior Stadium on the campus of Cal State Stanislaus in Turlock for the second year in a row and the fifth time in the last six years.

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
UCSD began the 2014 campaign exactly where it left off in 2013 in terms of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll. The association released its preseason listing back on Aug. 7. UCSD fell out of the top 25 when the first in-season edition was revealed on Sept. 9. The Tritons got as far up as No. 6 during an exceptional 2013 run, their highest position in the national poll of the Division II era. They are currently rated ninth in the NSCAA's West Region poll, down from seventh, with this week's opponents, Cal State L.A. and Cal Poly Pomona, in fourth and third, respectively.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Tritons split a pair of home games with top Pacific West Conference and West Region foes last week. They cruised past California Baptist, 3-0, on Thursday night, Sept. 18, on goals by Malek Bashti, Nick Palano andZachary Lagotta, all coming over a span of 14:06 around the halftime interval. Palano's was the first of his college career. Alessandro Canale had a hand in all three goals, increasing his assists total to a team-best five on the year. Brandon Bauman and Matthew McClure also were credited with a helper each. Just one save was needed out of Cameron McElfresh for the clean sheet. UCSD then dropped a tough 1-0 decision in double overtime to Azusa Pacific on Saturday night, Sept. 20, the lone score coming at 101:43, snapping a shutout streak for the Triton defense of just over 350 minutes.

PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD has boasted one of the top five defenses nationally in the NCAA Division II in terms of team goals-against average in each of the last two seasons. The Tritons led the country in the category in 2012 with a CCAA-record mark of 0.44, and finished fourth in 2013 at a 0.52 clip. UCSD has allowed no more than a single goal over its past 33 games going back to a 3-0 loss at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 14, 2012, and has posted 24 shutouts over its last 45. The Tritons had surrendered a goal in nine straight matches going back to late in 2013 prior to this season's first shutout, 4-0, at home over Cal State San Marcos on Sept. 14. They then blanked California Baptist, 3-0, four days later.

SCORE TWO, GET THE WIN
UCSD is a perfect 5-0 in 2014 when scoring at least two goals. The Tritons are conversely 0-2 when tallying less than two goals. Going back to late in the 2011 campaign, UCSD has won 20 straight contests when finding the back of the net two or more times. The team's last such loss was a 3-2 home decision to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 16, 2011.

TRITON NOTES
UCSD is 7-5-2 in CCAA openers ... The Tritons' 4-0 win over CSUSM was their most lopsided defeat and the most goals they have scored in a single game since a 5-0 triumph in the 2012 finale at Cal State Monterey Bay ... UCSD is 11-3-1 in season openers in the Division II era following the 2-1 victory over Saint Martin's on Sept. 4 ... The Tritons have rallied from 1-0 behind to win 2-1 in each of their last two season openers ... UCSD was picked to finish fifth by league head coaches in the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, garnering one of the 12 first-place votes ... Junior goalkeeper Cameron McElfresh has posted two shutouts this season to give him five clean sheets for his career ... The four returning Triton starters from a year ago are senior midfielder Brandon Bauman, forwardAlessandro Canale, senior left back Matthew McClure and redshirt sophomore right back Brett Sampiere (Solana Beach/Torrey Pines HS) ... Canale and Sampiere earned All-CCAA honorable mention a year ago ... Among 27 players on the 2014 roster are 15 returners and 12 newcomers ... Joining Bauman, Canale and McClure in the senior class are A.J. Beloff, Jacob Valadez and Nick Roberts ... Besides Sampiere, the only other San Diego products are freshman winger Zachary Lagotta (Cathedral Catholic HS) and junior goalkeeper Dean Meltz (Torrey Pines HS).

HEAD COACH JON PASCALE
Jon Pascale, now a two-time CCAA Coach of the Year through back-to-back honors in 2012 and 2013, has posted a 63-38-19 (.604) overall record in his seventh season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 46-32-15 (.575) in arguably the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the nation, the CCAA. A 1-0 home victory over Sonoma State on Sept. 29, 2013, gave him career win No. 50, while a 2-0 triumph at Cal State Stanislaus in the very next match on Oct. 4 marked his 100th contest at the Triton helm. Pascale directed his first postseason tilt on Nov. 8 of last year in Turlock, a come-from-behind, 2-1 overtime triumph over rival Chico State in a CCAA Championship semifinal. He made his NCAA Championship debut as a head coach on Nov. 16, 2013, in La Jolla.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Cal State L.A. (4-1) is receiving votes just outside of the top 25 in the latest NSCAA national rankings. The Golden Eagles' lone loss thus far was a 1-0 defeat in a non-conference match-up with CCAA foe Cal Poly Pomona on Sept. 14. They have outscored their opponents, 16-2, over their four victories, and have yet to play a road match in 2014. Cal State L.A., which topped the South Division in each of the last three seasons before the league did away with its divisional alignment, is led by 12th-year head coach Chris Chamides. The Golden Eagles were CCAA champions in 2011 and 2013.

SERIES HISTORY
Cal State L.A. leads the all-time series, 13-11-3. The teams met three times in 2013, with a pair of 1-0 wins in favor of the Golden Eagles around a 1-1 draw in the regular-season finale in La Jolla. CSULA has won three straight against UCSD in Los Angeles, all by the identical scoreline of 1-0. The Tritons have not upended CSULA over their last seven meetings (0-6-1) since a 1-0 triumph in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2010. Of those six losses, five have been by the final score of 1-0.

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
Cal Poly Pomona (5-0-1) is ranked No. 22 in the NSCAA national poll as of Tuesday morning, and is still undefeated. The Broncos host Cal State San Bernardino on Friday night prior to heading down to La Jolla on Sunday. Goalkeeper Fernando Pablo Quevedo, a native of Santander, Spain, is the reigning CCAA Player of the Week after producing eight saves over a pair of shutout victories last week. In fact, the Bronco junior and his teammates have yet to surrender a single goal in 562:18 of action this year. They come off of a 1-0 home win over Point Loma on Tuesday night in their non-conference finale, courtesy of an 84th-minute strike by Abiel Coronado. Yossi Raz is in his second season in charge of the CPP men.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 25-8-2. The Tritons swept last season's home-and-home series, twice winning 1-0 late in the season. UCSD previously swept the two-game set in 2012 as well, with another pair of 1-0 shutouts. UCSD has actually won five consecutive 1-0 decisions over the Broncos since a 3-0 loss in Pomona on Sept. 18, 2011, with CPP scoreless against them for 475:31.

GEAR HERE
UCSD Athletics has partnered with Advanced-Online to provide a web-based, on-demand option for UCSD apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours. Visit the site at UCSDTritonsGear.com.

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UP NEXT
UCSD has a second straight split-venue week in CCAA play ahead, hosting Cal State San Bernardino on Friday, Oct. 3 (4:30 p.m.), before heading to rival Chico State on Sunday, Oct. 5 (11:30 a.m.). Both games will make up the first halves of doubleheaders with the Triton women.

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