THE SCHEDULE
Match 7
at No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-1, 2-0 CCAA)
Friday, Sept. 22 • 4:30 p.m.
Toro Stadium • Carson
Live Video • Live Stats

Match 8
at Cal State LA (6-1, 1-1 CCAA)
Sunday, Sept. 24 • 2 p.m.
Jesse Owens Track • Los Angeles
Live Video • Live Stats

HUGE ROAD TESTS FOR UC SAN DIEGO IN LOS ANGELES
The University of California San Diego men's soccer program hits the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) road for the first time this week, facing critical contests at traditional powers. The Tritons (3-1-2, 1-1 CCAA) are in Carson on Friday, Sept. 22, for a 4:30 p.m. match at Toro Stadium against No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-1, 2-0 CCAA). They then go back to Los Angeles on Sunday, Sept. 24, for a 2 p.m. meeting with Cal State LA (6-1, 1-1 CCAA) at Jesse Owens Track. Both games will be part of doubleheaders with the 10th-ranked UCSD women.

LIVE COVERAGE
Both matches in Los Angeles this week will have pay-per-view video broadcasts, as well as free live stats. The cost to watch is $7.99 on Friday in Carson and $5.95 for Sunday's full doubleheader (24-hour pass) at Cal State LA. 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.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD split the first week of the CCAA season to begin its title defense. The Tritons first had their 18-game home unbeaten streak snapped by rival Chico State, 2-0, on Friday, Sept. 15. They bounced back in a big way, however, striking for four goals in a span of 16:30 of the first half and ultimately cruising to a 4-0 defeat of visiting Stanislaus State on Sunday afternoon. Steven Ortiz, Christian Cordell and Uly de la Cal all hit for their second goal of the campaign, around a Stan State own goal off of de la Cal's corner kick. Freshman Jonathan Sabouri was credited with the lone assist, through his dash down the left flank and cross into the middle on Cordell's tally. Goalkeeper Pedro Enciso notched his third individual shutout of the campaign.

RANKINGS REPORT
UC San Diego opened 2017 exactly where it ended 2016 in terms of national ranking, appearing in the No. 4 spot in the rebranded United Soccer Coaches (formerly National Soccer Coaches Association of America) preseason poll. It matched the program's highest position of its NCAA Division II era, since 2000, incidentally from the final 2016 poll. After drawing at Biola in their opener, the Tritons fell out of the national rankings, and as of Sept. 12, are not among the United Soccer Coaches' West Region top 10.

HOME DOMINATION
UC San Diego had its 18-match home unbeaten streak that stretched out over nearly two full calendar years, ended by Chico State, 2-0, last Friday, Sept. 15. The Tritons are 2-1-1 at the midway point of their eight-game home slate for 2017, after finishing an unbeaten 12-0-1 there in 2016 and 5-1-2 inside the friendly confines in 2015. They are 60-21-16 (.701) in La Jolla under Jon Pascale. UCSD is 16-1-3 in its last 20 at Triton Soccer Stadium, since a 2-1 loss to Stanislaus State on Sept. 27, 2015.

OVERTIME STREAK
Three of UCSD's six games thus far in 2017 have gone into overtime, with a dramatic road win at APU and a pair of double-overtime draws. Following a come-from-behind, 2-2 tie against Concordia Irvine on Sept. 9, UCSD is an unbeaten 6-0-16 in overtime contests since its last such loss in 2014.

PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD has given up five goals in 2017 after 248:31 of shutout soccer to begin the season. The Tritons are thus third in the CCAA, sixth in the West Region and 34th nationally with a 0.77 team goals-against average. They allowed just 13 goals over 24 matches a year ago for a 0.52 GAA, which ranked fourth in all of the NCAA Division II. Eight came from the run of play, with four penalties and one free kick. UCSD was 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 last 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).

TRITON NOTES
UCSD is the favorite to repeat as the CCAA champion, as voted on by league head coaches in the 2017 preseason poll, having accumulated 130 points and eight of the 13 first-place votes after being picked fifth a year ago and loudly defying that prognostication ... UCSD is 12-3-3 in season openers in the Division II era (since 2000), including the scoreless draw at Biola on Aug. 31, and is thus an unbeaten 3-0-2 in the last five years ... UCSD is 9-7-2 in CCAA openers with back-to-back shutout losses at home to Chico State (2-0) this year and at Cal State San Marcos (1-0) last season ... UCSD had a CCAA-best 39 goals over 24 games in 2016 after managing 15 in 18 matches in 2015, marking a program record for the Division II era.

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. So far in 2017, the Tritons fell behind 2-0 at home to Concordia on Sept. 9 before storming back for a 2-2 draw.

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 host, in 2001, 2006 and 2008, the Triton men have been unable to qualify.

CCAA FORMAT UNCHANGED
Conference action began last 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.

2017 SEASON OUTLOOK
Jon Pascale, the three-time and reigning CCAA Coach of the Year in his 10th year in charge, has had 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 wing, left back, holding central midfield and right back, respectively. Fifth-year Triton Bashti had three goals and seven assists. Cordell is the leading returning goal-scorer, with five off the bench as a sophomore.

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. UCSD shocked Cal Poly Pomona on the road, 2-1, on the final day to steal the CCAA regular-season title, and later also turned the 2015 West Region champions and national runners-up away in the West final in La Jolla, 1-0 in overtime. 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 at home 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 96-50-35 (.627) overall record in his 10th year in charge of the UC San Diego men's soccer program. He is 66-40-24 (.600) 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 TOROS
No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills (5-1, 2-0 CCAA) was favored for fifth in the CCAA preseason poll. The Toros moved into the national poll for the first time in 2017 following an impressive road sweep of the first CCAA weekend, 1-0 at then-11th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona and 3-1 at Cal State San Bernardino. Junior midfielder Adam Vargas, a Chula Vista native, thus earned CCAA Player of the Week distinction, scoring twice, including the decider in Pomona. CSUDH, rated third in the West Region, is 3-1 at home. Head coach Joe Flanagan is in his 24th season in charge of the men's program at his alma mater. He led them to the 2015 CCAA regular-season banner.

SERIES HISTORY
Cal State Dominguez Hills leads the all-time series, 17-6-6, though UCSD won the most recent affair, a comprehensive 3-0 triumph in La Jolla last Oct. 16. The Toros were 1-0 victors at home in 2015. UCSD won the lone matchup in 2014, 2-0 at home on Senior Night on Oct. 30. Both meetings in 2013 ended in 1-1 draws. The teams split their two games in 2012, with the Tritons taking a 1-0 decision in La Jolla in late September, and the Toros producing a 3-0 victory in Carson in mid-October. The three goals surrendered were a season high for UCSD, having allowed just eight that whole year.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Cal State LA (6-1, 1-1 CCAA) shared the second spot in the CCAA preseason poll with Sonoma State, garnering one first-place vote apiece. The Golden Eagles are sixth in this week's United Soccer Coaches West Region poll. They split the first CCAA weekend, on the road, winning 2-0 at Cal State San Bernardino before suffering a first defeat for 2017, 2-1 at Cal Poly Pomona. Cal State LA blanked UH Hilo, 1-0, in a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon, to move to a perfect 4-0 at home. Cal State LA is directed by 15th-year head coach Chris Chamides. The Golden Eagles were CCAA champions in 2011 and 2013, and West Region champs in 2014.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between these rivals is completely even at 14-14-4, following a 1-0 Triton home victory last Oct. 14 through a 35th-minute Riley Harbour winner when Cal State LA was ranked 12th and UCSD 21st. Cal State LA previously took a 3-1 win in the 2015 CCAA Tournament first round in Los Angeles. It meant the Golden Eagles had ended the Tritons' season for two straight years. UCSD took a 1-0 decision, also in Los Angeles, in the 2015 regular-season meeting. That was thanks to an 88th-minute, far-post Nick Palano volley from a right-sided Zachary Lagottacross. The result gave the Tritons back-to-back regular-season wins at CSULA, having come out on top by the identical 1-0 score on Sept. 26, 2014, through a 75th-minute Brandon Bauman penalty kick. CSULA did later end UCSD's 2014 season, however, in the first round of the NCAA Championship in Azusa on Nov. 13, the squads playing to a 1-1 deadlock before the 14th-ranked Golden Eagles advanced via penalty-kick tiebreaker, 5-4. The teams faced off three times in 2013, with a pair of 1-0 wins going in favor of the Golden Eagles around a 1-1 draw in the regular-season finale in La Jolla. CSULA had won three straight against UCSD in Los Angeles, all 1-0, prior to the 2014 matchup. The Tritons had not upended CSULA anywhere over their previous seven meetings (0-6-1) since a 1-0 triumph in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2010. Of those six losses, five were by the final score of 1-0.

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 are back home and back in front of the UC San Diego student body for the first time next week, hosting 23rd-ranked rival Cal Poly Pomona in primetime on Friday night, Sept. 29, at 7 p.m., in a rematch of the 2016 West Region final that UCSD won in overtime in La Jolla, 1-0. Cal State San Bernardino then pays a visit on Sunday, Oct. 1, for a 2 p.m. kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium.

#AllForOne