THE SCHEDULE
Match 16
vs. Cal State San Marcos (6-6-2, 4-5-1 CCAA)
Wednesday, Oct. 21 • 4:30 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Video • Live Stats

Match 17
at Chico State (5-6-2, 3-4-1 CCAA)
Friday, Oct. 23 • 4:30 p.m.
University Soccer Stadium • Chico
Live Video • Live Stats

TRITONS ROUND OUT REGULAR SEASON
The UC San Diego men's soccer team wraps up its 2015 regular-season schedule this week with two final California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) matches. The Tritons (5-5-5, 4-3-3 CCAA) host area rival and new league foe Cal State San Marcos (6-6-2, 4-5-1 CCAA) at Triton Soccer Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 21, before traveling back to Northern California to face archrival Chico State (5-6-2, 3-4-1 CCAA) on Friday, Oct. 23. Kickoff times for both contests are set for 4:30 p.m., with each again part of doubleheaders with the Triton women, who take the field at 7 p.m. UCSD is 4-1-2 at home and 1-4-3 outside of La Jolla in 2015.

The Tritons are currently fifth among 13 teams in the CCAA table, with 15 points. The top six sides in the final standings qualify for the CCAA Tournament.

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, including both this week, free of charge. All live links are available here.

TRITONS ROCK HUNGER
The Triton Athletes' Council (TAC) is joining with other campus organizations to collect canned goods and other non-perishable food items this month. Items collected will be donated to the San Diego Food Bank. Red barrels will be located at Triton Soccer Stadium during Wednesday's doubleheader, as well as the main RIMAC and upstairs Intercollegiate Athletics lobbies, and all fans are invited to join in the Tritons Rock Hunger effort.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD was able only to procure one point from the toughest road trip on the CCAA calendar last week, twice rallying from one-goal deficits to draw 2-2 at Humboldt State on Friday before suffering a 3-0 setback Sunday at rival Sonoma State. Both goals against the Jacks came from the penalty spot. Freshman Brandon Monteiro Magpayotallied his team-best third to make it 1-1 in the 64th. Junior Sam Palano then converted his try with just under eight minutes to go in regulation, for a 2-2 final score. It was Palano's first goal on the year.

POSTSEASON PICTURE
UCSD is alone in fifth in the latest CCAA table, with just two league matches remaining. There are actually two weeks left in the CCAA regular season, but the Tritons have a bye in the final week, and will be the first side to complete their 12-game slate this Friday at Chico State. Of this week's opponents, Cal State San Marcos is in a two-way tie for sixth, two points back of the Tritons, but is ineligible for the conference tournament as a first-year member. Chico State is ninth with 10 points, though the Wildcats have played two fewer games than UCSD. The top six teams in the final standings will make the 2015 CCAA Tournament. The two highest point-getters qualify automatically through to Kellogg Field on the campus of Cal Poly Pomona, a first-time host of the league semifinals and final. Two first-round tilts will be played at campus sites on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

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 1.06, 49th in Division II. 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 (tied-six) and minutes played (1450:00), and is eighth with a 1.06 goals-against average ... McElfresh ranks first nationally in minutes and 58th in GAA ... UCSD has scored more than once in a match twice in 2015, in a 3-2 win vs. Cal State Monterey Bay (10/9), and a 2-2 draw at Humboldt State (10/16), and has registered just 12 goals in 15 games ... The Tritons have converted four of six penalty-kick opportunities into goals, with five different players taking one ... UCSD has twice started three true freshmen this year, vs. Cal State East Bay (9/25) with Quinn Allan, Andrew Flores and Brandon Monteiro Magpayo, and at Cal State Dominguez Hills (10/2) with Allan, Flores and Andy Sartor ... On Sunday, Oct. 11, former Triton goalkeeper Brian Siljander (1987-90) joined Chris Romey (1989-91, 93) as the men's soccer program's second inductee into the UCSD Athletics Hall of Fame ... Siljander was the starting goalkeeper on the first Triton men's soccer team to win a national championship back in 1988, and still holds UCSD records in career GAA (0.50), single-season GAA (0.31 in 1988) and career shutouts (37) ... 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 13 of 15 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 73-45-30 (.595) overall record in his eighth season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 55-37-22 (.579) 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 COUGARS
Cal State San Marcos (6-6-2, 4-5-1 CCAA) is in its first year as a CCAA member. The Cougars sit in a two-way tie for sixth in the standings, two points back of the Tritons, with the two sides having played the most league games of anyone at 10 apiece. CSUSM is not eligible, however, for the six-team 2015 CCAA Tournament. The Cougars are 3-4-1 away from home. They come off of a road split last weekend, having lost 3-1 at Sonoma State on Friday before a 3-2 win Sunday at Humboldt State. Ron Pulvers is in his 10th season in charge.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 3-1. The teams last met in La Jolla on Sept. 14, 2014, with the Tritons posting a comfortable 4-0 victory through two goals in each half. They previously faced off on Aug. 28, 2009, UCSD registering a 1-0 home win in the season opener. The series was witness to a thriller in La Jolla on Sept. 5, 2008. The Cougars began the scoring with a penalty kick at 84:31. UCSD equalized at 86:19, only to see CSUSM steal it with a winner 36 seconds from the end of regulation.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Chico State (5-6-2, 3-4-1 CCAA) is currently ninth in the CCAA table, but is just five points back of UCSD with two games in hand. The Wildcats also finish with four straight matches at home, where they are 2-1 on the year. They are idle until Friday, and then host Cal State San Marcos on Sunday. Chico State came away with a road split last weekend, winning 2-1 at Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday after a 2-1 loss at Cal Poly Pomona Friday. Felipe Restrepo is in his eighth season in charge.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 11-6-3, including a 1-0 win in Chico last Oct. 5 through an unassisted Brandon Bauman strike at 84:52. The archrivals split their two regular-season meetings in 2013, with each winning 1-0 on the road. Chico State's triumph came in overtime to snap a seven-match win streak for the Tritons, ranked sixth at the time. UCSD had earlier won in the 14th-ranked Wildcats' home opener on Taylor Wirth's first collegiate goal in the 28th minute. The sides then faced off twice in the postseason. In the semifinals of the CCAA Championship in Turlock, Malek Bashti's first career goal in overtime was the difference as UCSD rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit to take it, 2-1. Finally in the second round of the NCAA Championship, in front of 985 fans in La Jolla, the teams played to a 1-1 draw before UCSD advanced via penalty-kick tiebreaker. The Tritons have won two straight in Chico, both by the identical score of 1-0, since a 2-1 defeat there on Oct. 7, 2011.

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)
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UP NEXT
Friday's road date with Chico State marks the end of the 2015 regular season for UCSD. The Tritons will then wait to see if they have done enough to earn a third straight postseason berth.

#TritonsRising