THE SCHEDULE
Match 3
at Azusa Pacific (0-2, 0-0 PacWest)
Thursday, Sept. 7 • 7 p.m.
Cougar Soccer Complex • Azusa
Live Video • Live Stats

Match 4
vs. Concordia Irvine (1-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Saturday, Sept. 9 • 7 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

UC SAN DIEGO SET FOR ANOTHER SPLIT-VENUE PAIR
The University of California San Diego men's soccer program faces a split-venue non-conference pair for the second straight week to begin the 2017 season. The Tritons (1-0-1) first make their second foray north, this time to Azusa, to meet Azusa Pacific (0-2) in primetime on Thursday, Sept. 7. They then host another Pacific West Conference (PacWest) foe in Concordia Irvine on Saturday, Sept. 9, at Triton Soccer Stadium on North Campus in La Jolla. Kickoff for both games is set for 7 p.m. Admission on Saturday is free.

After this week's activity, UCSD will have one final non-conference tilt remaining, at California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and city rival Cal State San Marcos, on Friday afternoon, Oct. 20. Eight of the Tritons' 17 regular-season contests are at home.

TRITON SOCCER MATCHDAY
Once again in 2017, all regular-season home matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend. Parking permits are required, however, on weeknights on the UC San Diego 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 adjacent to RIMAC. Parking is free on Saturday and Sunday.

TRITON SOCCER ON UCSDTRITONS.TV
Select home games in 2017 will feature a live video stream on UCSDtritons.tv. Broadcasts are in high definition, and can be viewed from smartphones and tablets alongside desktop and laptop computers. Local media personality Taylor Quellman (@TJQuellman) will primarily handle the play-by-play duties. Viewing is subscription-based, though it is free from UCSD campus IP addresses. A package that gives viewers access to all streamed events throughout the 2017-18 academic year is available for just $24.99. A single-day pay-per-view option can be purchased for $5.99, meaning doubleheaders are two-for-one. Events are archived. All games have live stats. Select road matches will also have video, like Thursday's in Azusa. Fans can access live coverage from the Schedule/Results page, or by clicking on the links above. Starting lineups, live in-game updates and other news and notes can be found by following Triton Soccer all season long on the UCSD Athletics Twitter handle (@UCSDtritons). Finally, check out the CCAA live scoreboard here to keep up on results around the league.

FREE POSTERS!
Free posters of the 2017 UCSD fall sports will be available at Triton Soccer Stadium on Saturday night.

UCSD FAVORED TO REPEAT AS CCAA CHAMPION
UCSD is the favorite to repeat as the CCAA champion, as voted on by league head coaches in the 2017 preseason poll. The Tritons accumulated 130 points and eight of the 13 first-place votes to sit atop the poll after being picked fifth a year ago and loudly defying that prognostication. Cal State LA and 2016 CCAA Tournament finalist Sonoma State shared the second spot, each with 118 points and one first-place nod. Cal Poly Pomona was fourth with 116 points and the remaining three first-place votes. UCSD shocked the Broncos 2-1 in Pomona on the final day to steal the CCAA regular-season title, and also turned the 2015 West Region champions and national runners-up away in the West final in front of the home crowd, 1-0 in overtime. Cal State Dominguez Hills, the 2015 CCAA regular-season victor, was fifth (105), followed by Chico State (96).

FOR OPENERS
UCSD is 12-3-3 in season openers in the Division II era, including last Thursday night's scoreless draw at Biola. The Tritons overturned an early second-half deficit and got a thrilling winner from Nick Palano with just 101 ticks left in the second overtime to knock off Azusa Pacific at home a year ago. Twin brother Sam Palano assisted on that winner after equalizing in the 68th minute. They had won two straight lid-lifters, 2-1 in overtime at California Baptist in 2013, and by that same score in La Jolla against Saint Martin's in 2014, ahead of a 1-1 draw at SMU in 2015. They are thus an unbeaten 3-0-2 in their last five.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD played to a scoreless draw at new Division II foe Biola on Thursday night, prior to scoring three second-half goals and racing to a 3-0 victory over Division III side Occidental in its home opener on Saturday. Pedro Encisomade five total saves over the course of posting the first two individual shutouts of his college career. True freshman Brett Jones notched the first goal by a Triton at 50:03 of that Oxy match, which proved to be the winner. Christian Cordell and Nolan Mac added late clinchers, the latter the first of fourth-year senior left back Mac's career through a fine individual run down the left side of the penalty box.

2017 SEASON OUTLOOK
Jon Pascale, the three-time and reigning CCAA Coach of the Year in his 10th year in charge, has to replace eight valuable seniors, but still has a bevy of veterans to rely on in 2017. Included in that group are Malek Bashti, Christian Cordell, Uly de la Cal, Danny Glascock, Zachary Lagotta (San Diego/Cathedral Catholic HS), Nolan Mac, Matt Merrill, Steven Ortiz, Kyle Panganiban, Jeff Powers and Eric Young, all seniors academically or athletically. Bashti and Mac picked up All-CCAA honorable mentions a season ago, and Lagotta in 2015, with de la Cal the top returning point-getter with 16 from four goals and a team-best eight assists in 2016. Bashti, Lagotta, Mac, Merrill and Powers were regular starters, at forward, right winger, left back, holding central midfielder and right back, respectively. Fifth-year Triton Bashti had three goals and seven assists.

HOME DOMINATION
UC San Diego finished an unbeaten 12-0-1 at home in 2016 after going 5-1-2 inside the friendly confines in 2015, and raced past Occidental in its 2017 home opener on Saturday, 3-0. The Tritons are 59-20-15 (.707) in La Jolla under Jon Pascale. They are 15-0-2 in their last 17 at Triton Soccer Stadium, since a 2-1 loss to Stanislaus State on Sept. 27, 2015. UCSD has thus not lost at home in almost two full calendar years.

RETURN TO PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD has not given up a goal over 200 minutes of play in 2017, after allowing just 13 goals over its 24 matches a year ago for a goals-against average of 0.52, which ranked fourth in all of the NCAA Division II. Eight came from the run of play, with four penalties and one free kick. The Tritons were second in save percentage (.857) and fifth in shutout percentage (0.58), with a Division II-era program-record 14 clean sheets. The team's longest shutout stretch of the year was 513:54 through four-plus shutouts, with two more of 356:51 and 353:12. The Tritons boasted one of the top seven defenses nationally in Division II in terms of team GAA for three straight seasons between 2012-14, but fell back to the 48th spot in 2015 (1.09). They 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).

RECORD OFFENSE
UC San Diego had a CCAA-best 39 goals over 24 games in 2016, after managing just 15 in 18 matches in 2015. It marked a record for the program's Division II era, since 2000. Junior winger Christian Cordell is the leading returning goal-scorer, with five a year ago, all off the bench. Senior forward Uly de la Cal is the top point-getter back, having accumulated 16 from four tallies and a team-best eight assists. Strike partner Malek Bashti provided three goals and seven assists.

STAT OF THE YEAR
If there was one telling statistic from the 2016 campaign, it was that on seven occasions, the Tritons surrendered a game's first score before rallying for a 2-1 victory via late goals. It happened in each of their first two games at home to begin the year, and turned into an exhilirating trend. UCSD turned the trick three times in La Jolla and four times away from home, those four all in succession before a final instance in the national quarterfinal at Triton Soccer Stadium on Nov. 20.

ROSTER NOTES
Among 27 players on the 2017 roster are 18 returners and nine newcomers, five of them true freshmen ... The eight seniors are Malek Bashti, Uly de la Cal, Danny Glascock, Zachary Lagotta, Nolan Mac, Steven Ortiz, Kyle Panganiban and Eric Young ... There are six local products in Lagotta (San Diego/Cathedral Catholic HS), junior forward Nathaniel Bloom (Encinitas/San Dieguito HS Academy), and freshmen Jonathan Sabouri (Carlsbad/San Dieguito HS Academy), Jordan Karam (San Diego/Torrey Pines HS), Oliver Nelson (Escondido/Escondido HS) and Pedro Enciso (Vista/Rancho Buena Vista HS) ... True freshman Darragh Buckley is the younger brother of former Triton Padraig Buckley (2010-13).

CCAA TOURNAMENT RETURNS TO LA JOLLA
UC San Diego is the proud host of the 2017 CCAA Tournament semifinals and finals, for the first time since 2008 and fourth in all. Two women's and two men's semifinals will be contested at Triton Soccer Stadium on Friday, Nov. 3, with the two finals set for Sunday, Nov. 5. Start times are to be determined. First-round matchups will take place on the campuses of the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds on Tuesday, Oct. 31. In all three previous instances that UCSD has served as the host, in 2001, 2006 and 2008, the Triton men have been unable to qualify.

CCAA FORMAT UNCHANGED
Conference action begins on Friday, Sept. 15. For the fourth year in a row, the CCAA slate will consist of a single round robin, with all teams meeting once for 12 matches total, and the top six sides (based on most points; three points for a league win, one for a tie) in the final regular-season standings qualifying for the 2017 CCAA Tournament. Cal State San Marcos, a new addition in 2015, is eligible for the first time.

LAST SEASON
UC San Diego is coming off of the most successful season of its Division II era, as the treble winner of the CCAA regular-season, CCAA tournament and West Region championships, all for the first time. The Tritons advanced to the national semifinals in Kansas City, Mo., fell to the eventual champions and finished 19-3-2 overall and 9-2-1 in league play. They have now made four successive postseason appearances in the form of the CCAA Tournament, with NCAA Championship berths in 2013, 2014 and 2016. UCSD went an unbeaten 12-0-1 in La Jolla in 2016.

HEAD COACH JON PASCALE
Jon Pascale, now a three-time CCAA Coach of the Year through back-to-back honors in 2012 and 2013 and another last season, has posted a 94-49-34 (.627) overall record in his 10th year in charge of the UC San Diego men's soccer program. He is 65-39-24 (.602) in arguably the toughest NCAA Division II conference in the nation, the CCAA. Last season, Pascale guided the Tritons to the very first CCAA regular-season, CCAA Tournament and Division II West Region titles in the program's 17 years as a league and Division II member. It was UCSD's seventh straight campaign with an overall record of .500 or better, with seven winning seasons out of Pascale's nine. The Tritons have earned four successive berths in the CCAA Tournament, with trips to the NCAA Championship in 2013, 2014 and 2016. A 1-0 home victory over Sonoma State on Sept. 29, 2013, gave Pascale career win No. 50, while a 2-0 triumph at Stanislaus State in the very next match on Oct. 4 marked his 100th contest at the Triton helm. He directed his first postseason tilt on Nov. 8, 2013, in Turlock, a come-from-behind, 2-1 overtime win over Chico State in a CCAA semifinal. He made his NCAA tourney 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. The 2-0 decision versus Western Washington on Nov. 13, 2016, meant Pascale's first NCAA tournament win as a head coach.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Azusa Pacific (0-2) shared the fifth position in the PacWest preseason coaches' poll, garnering one of the 14 first-place votes. The Cougars have allowed nine goals in their two losses thus far, to UCSD's CCAA foes Cal Poly Pomona (5-1) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (4-3). Thursday will mark their 2017 home opener, where they went an even 4-4-1 a year ago en route to a 6-7-4 overall record. David Blomquist, the 2014 PacWest Coach of the Year, is in his ninth year at the helm. He was named the 2014 PacWest Coach of the Year, when APU qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship in its first season of eligibility, winning the PacWest crown with an 11-1 league mark.

SERIES HISTORY
This all-time series is exactly even at 11-11-2. UCSD won a thriller in the season opener a year ago, 2-1, getting goals from twins Sam Palano and Nick Palano, the latter assisted by Sam with just 101 seconds left in double overtime, to overturn an early second-half deficit. The teams played to a 1-1 draw in Azusa in 2015 as Uly de la Caland Keenan Armbrust traded first-half penalty-kick goals. That result followed a double-overtime 1-0 triumph for APU in La Jolla on Sept. 20, 2014, courtesy of Armbrust's strike at 101:43. The programs previously met in Azusa in the Tritons' 2003 season opener on Sept. 3, with UCSD coming away with a 3-0 victory.

ABOUT THE EAGLES
Concordia Irvine (1-1) was picked to finish second in the 14-team PacWest, with a pair of first-place votes. The program is in its first year of NCAA Division II Championship eligibility, with a previous affiliation in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). CUI, which went 11-5-2 overall and 10-3 in PacWest play a year ago, returns its two leading goal-scorers in senior Connor Gordon (14 goals, six assists) and sophomore Jose Huerta (five goals). Both are preseason All-PacWest picks. Concordia, like APU, has only played CCAA opposition thus far, falling 2-1 at Cal State San Marcos ahead of a 5-0 thrashing of Cal State San Bernardino in its home opener on Saturday. The Eagles play at Cal State LA on Thursday night. Chris Gould is in his ninth season in charge.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 2-1-1, following a scoreless draw in Irvine last Sept. 17. The Tritons won 1-0 in La Jolla on Sept. 8, 2015, thanks to then-freshman Nathaniel Bloom's first career goal in the 26th minute. The teams met in La Jolla on Aug. 30, 2008, with UCSD posting a 2-0 shutout through a Tony Fernandez brace. The Eagles won 1-0 in the Tritons' 2007 season opener, also in La Jolla.

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 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 (#AllForOne)
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UP NEXT
The Tritons begin the 12-game CCAA slate at home next week, hosting rival Chico State on Friday, Sept. 15, at 4:30 p.m., and then Stanislaus State on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 11:30 a.m.

#AllForOne