THE SCHEDULE
Match 12 - Homecoming
vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (7-2, 4-1 CCAA)
Friday, Oct. 9 • 7 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

Match 13 - Homecoming
vs. SF State (5-3-2, 1-2-2 CCAA)
Sunday, Oct. 11 • 2 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

UCSD HEADS INTO SECOND HALF OF CONFERENCE SEASON
The UC San Diego men's soccer team begins the second half of the 2015 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) season with two key matches in La Jolla this weekend during Homecoming. The Tritons (4-4-3, 3-2-1 CCAA) first entertain an in-form Cal State Monterey Bay (7-2, 4-1 CCAA) side in primetime on Friday night, Oct. 9, at 7 p.m. They then welcome SF State (5-3-2, 1-2-2 CCAA) to Triton Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 2 p.m. Both matches will serve as the second halves of doubleheaders with the Triton women, who take the field at 4:30 p.m. and 11:30 a.m., respectively. UCSD is 3-1-1 at home in 2015.

At the midway point of the 12-game CCAA schedule, the Tritons are currently alone in fifth among 13 teams in the CCAA table, with 10 points from six league matches.

MATCHDAY SPECS
Once again in 2015, all regular-season home matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend. Parking permits are required, however, on weeknights on the UCSD campus. Parking permits can be purchased at machines situated at corners of either of the nearest parking lots, behind the spectator stand, as well as the Hopkins Parking Structure behind RIMAC. Parking is free on weekends. All games, home and away, have live stats. Some matches also feature video. All live links are available here.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD is coming off of a second straight weekend split, this one on the road, with a 1-0 loss at then-14th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday, followed by a 1-0 triumph at reigning West Region champion Cal State L.A. on Sunday. The decisive goal in Sunday's hugely-significant victory came at the 87:01 mark as junior Nick Palanovolleyed home fellow winger Zachary Lagotta's right-sided cross at the far post, shooting low into the right netting. It was Palano's first of 2015, and first career game-winner. Lagotta's assist was his second of the year, with Cameron McElfresh needing a single save to register his fifth shutout.

PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD has boasted one of the top seven defenses nationally in the NCAA Division II in terms of team goals-against average in each of the last three seasons. The Tritons led the country in that category in 2012 with a then-CCAA-record mark of 0.44, before finishing fourth in 2013 (0.52) and seventh in 2014 (0.65). Their current average stands at 0.86. Uncharacteristically at California Baptist (9/12), UCSD allowed three goals in a single match for the first time since another 3-0 road defeat, at Cal State Dominguez Hills, on Oct. 14, 2012. The Tritons had gone 50 consecutive games without allowing that many opposition scores. They did not concede for over 458 minutes of home action in 2015, until the final 12 minutes of a 2-1 loss to Stanislaus State (9/27).

TRITON NOTES
Cameron McElfresh leads the CCAA in shutouts (five) and minutes played (1050:00), and is fourth with a 0.86 goals-against average ... UCSD has yet to score more than once in a single match through 11 games in 2015, and has registered just seven goals ... The Tritons have converted only one of three penalty-kick opportunities into goals ... UCSD has twice started three true freshmen this year, vs. Cal State East Bay (9/25) with Quinn Allan, Andrew Floresand Brandon Monteiro Magpayo, and at Cal State Dominguez Hills (10/2) with Allan, Flores and Andy Sartor ... UCSD is 11-3-2 in season openers in the Division II era, and is unbeaten (2-0-1) over its last three, including the 1-1 draw at Saint Martin's (9/3) ... UCSD is 9-5-2 in CCAA openers after successive 1-0 triumphs at Cal State L.A. and vs. Cal Poly Pomona (9/18) ... UCSD was picked by league head coaches to place fourth in the 2015 CCAA preseason poll, with reigning West Region champion Cal State L.A. the favorite with eight of 13 first-place votes ... The Tritons are coming off of back-to-back trips to both the CCAA and NCAA tournaments ... UCSD has posted a winning record in five straight seasons and six out of seven under head coach Jon Pascale ... The Tritons went 10-4-6 overall and 5-2-4 in CCAA play in 2014, tying for third in the then-12-team league.

ROSTER NOTES
Among 28 players on the 2015 roster are 15 returners, 13 newcomers, and no seniors ... Nine players have made their Triton debuts this season, including five true freshmen and junior Justice Duerksen, a transfer from Division I Seattle University who has started 10 of 11 matches on the left wing ... UCSD returns the hub of its defense in redshirt juniors Cameron McElfresh in goal and Brett Sampiere (Solana Beach/Torrey Pines HS) and Kuba Waligorski on the back line ... Waligorski was a Daktronics All-West Region Second Team and All-CCAA Second Team pick in a first go-around in La Jolla for the native of Poland, while McElfresh garnered All-CCAA honorable mention in his first full season as the starting net-minder ... Sampiere earned All-CCAA honorable mention in 2013 before missing 12 of 20 games a year ago ... Besides Sampiere, other San Diego products are sophomore winger Zachary Lagotta (Cathedral Catholic HS) and true freshmen Nathaniel Bloom (Encinitas/San Dieguito HS Academy) and Daniel Boemer (Scripps Ranch HS) ... Bloom's first collegiate goal proved to be the decider in the 26th minute of UCSD's first win of 2015, vs. Concordia (9/8) in the home opener.

HEAD COACH JON PASCALE
Jon Pascale, a two-time CCAA Coach of the Year through back-to-back honors in 2012 and 2013, has posted a 72-44-28 (.597) overall record in his eighth season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 54-36-20 (.582) in arguably the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the nation, the CCAA. Pascale has guided the Tritons to five straight winning campaigns, six of his seven, and two successive berths in both the CCAA Championship and NCAA Championship. 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, 2013, in Turlock, a come-from-behind, 2-1 overtime win 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. A 2-0 home decision over Cal State East Bay on Oct. 12, 2014, meant CCAA win No. 50 for Pascale, who coached his 100th CCAA tilt at Cal State Monterey Bay five days later.

ABOUT THE OTTERS
Cal State Monterey Bay (7-2, 4-1 CCAA) has won three straight, all at home, with a pair of 2-1 decisions over SF State and Sonoma State sandwiched around a 2-0 shutout of Humboldt State last Friday. The Otters are 4-1 away from home in 2015. They are tied for third place in the CCAA with Cal State L.A., each on 12 points, two ahead of UCSD. Junior forward Alejandro Garcia leads the team with three goals. Senior Evan Drake (1.33 GAA, 36 saves, three shutouts) has played every minute in the CSUMB goal. Rob Cummings is in his fifth season in charge in Seaside.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 6-2-3. The Tritons are unbeaten in their last eight (5-0-3) against the Otters, with four of those five wins of the one-goal variety around a 5-0 triumph in Seaside in 2012. UCSD is also an undefeated 3-0-2 at home against CSUMB all-time. The Tritons had won four straight over the Otters regardless of venue, including a come-from-behind 2-1 decision behind a late Andisheh Bagheri brace in La Jolla in 2013, prior to a scoreless draw in Seaside last Oct. 17.

ABOUT THE GATORS
SF State (5-3-2, 1-2-2 CCAA) is winless over its last three, with back-to-back scoreless home draws last weekend after a 2-1 defeat at Cal State Monterey Bay. The Gators are in a three-way tie for eighth in the league table, at five points. They are 2-3 away from home in 2015. Matt Barnes is in his second year in charge of the Gators, who play at Cal State San Marcos on Friday afternoon prior to coming to La Jolla.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 10-5-3, but dropped last year's meeting, 2-0 in San Francisco. The Tritons were 2-1 victors at home in 2013. In 2012, they won 1-0 in La Jolla before the sides played to a scoreless stalemate in San Francisco. The teams faced each other twice in 2011 as well, as fellow members of the CCAA South, with the Tritons pulling off a sweep. UCSD was an unbeaten 6-0-2 against SF State over eight matchups prior to 2014.

GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner, Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours.

FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are in eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events, and much more!

SOCIAL MEDIA (#TritonsRising)
UCSD Athletics on Facebook (UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Instagram (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on Twitter (@UCSDtritons)
UCSD Athletics on YouTube (UCSDathletics)
UCSD Men's Soccer on Facebook
UCSD Men's Soccer on Instagram (@UCSDtritons)

UP NEXT
UCSD faces its toughest road trip, making the trek to the northern part of the state to take on Humboldt State in Arcata on Friday, Oct. 16, at 3 p.m., followed by Sonoma State in Rohnert Park on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 11:30 a.m.

#TritonsRising