THE SCHEDULE
Match 10 - First Friday
vs. Cal State San Bernardino (4-2, 0-2 CCAA)
Friday, Oct. 3 • 4:30 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

Match 11
at Chico State (5-2-1, 0-2 CCAA)
Sunday, Oct. 5 • 11:30 a.m.
University Soccer Stadium • Chico
Live Stats

HOME MATCH FRIDAY, TOP RIVAL SUNDAY UP NEXT FOR UCSD
The UC San Diego men's soccer team continues the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule this weekend at 6-3 overall and an even 1-1 in league play. In a second straight split-venue week, the Tritons first host Cal State San Bernardino on Friday, Oct. 3. The First Friday (first Friday of the 2014-15 academic year) match-up is set for a 4:30 p.m. kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium in front of the UCSD student body at large for the first time this season. UCSD then travels north to take on archrival Chico State on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 11:30 a.m. The teams faced off a total of four times a season ago, with the Tritons going 2-1-1 against the 'Cats. The draw came in the last of those meetings, in the second round of the NCAA Championship, as UCSD advanced dramatically via penalty-kick tiebreaker in front of a raucous home crowd.

Both matches this week precede UCSD women's games at 7 p.m. in La Jolla and 2 p.m. in Chico, respectively, and will have live stats. All regular-season matches at Triton Soccer Stadium are free to attend.

FREE T-SHIRTS FRIDAY
This is UCSD Welcome Week, with students finally back on campus and the fall quarter in session as of Thursday, Oct. 2. The first 1000 UCSD students at Friday's doubleheader will receive their free Triton Gameday t-shirt. Tweet, Instagram and Facebook pictures from Triton Soccer Stadium using the #UCSDWelcomeWeek and #TritonsRising hashtags.

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 eighth in the NSCAA's West Region poll, up from ninth, with Sunday's opponent, Chico State, down from first to sixth.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
The Tritons split a pair of games for the second week in a row. They first produced a big 1-0 win at Cal State L.A. last Friday, Sept. 26. The contest served not only as the CCAA opener for the two rivals, but a rematch of the 2013 CCAA Championship final, which the Golden Eagles took 1-0 in Turlock. This time around, it was a 75th-minute penalty-kick goal by senior central midfielder Brandon Bauman that earned UCSD a valuable three points.Cameron McElfresh had to make one save to notch his third shutout of the season in goal. Two days later, however, Cal Poly Pomona came to La Jolla still unbeaten and ranked 22nd nationally, and the Broncos returned home with a 2-0 victory. They scored twice within a three-minute span in the second half.

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 had not allowed more than a single goal over 34 straight games going back to a 3-0 loss at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 14, 2012, prior to last Sunday's 2-0 home loss to CPP. The Tritons have posted 25 shutouts over their last 47. They had surrendered a goal in nine matches in a row going back to late in 2013, prior to this season's first of three shutouts so far, 4-0, at home over Cal State San Marcos on Sept. 14. After 11 triumphs by the final score of 1-0 over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, UCSD notched its first such decision for 2014 at Cal State L.A. on Sept. 26.

SCORE TWO, GET THE WIN
UCSD is a perfect 5-0 in 2014 when scoring at least two goals. The Tritons are conversely 1-3 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
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 was picked to finish fifth by league head coaches in the CCAA preseason coaches' poll, garnering one of the 12 first-place votes ... Junior goalkeeperCameron McElfresh has posted three shutouts this season to give him six clean sheets for his career ... The four returning Triton starters from a year ago are midfielder Brandon Bauman, forward Alessandro Canale, and defenders Matthew McClure and 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 64-39-19 (.602) overall record in his seventh season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 47-33-15 (.574) 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 COYOTES
Cal State San Bernardino (4-2, 0-2 CCAA) suffered back-to-back losses to open CCAA play last week after a perfect 4-0 start to its 2014 campaign. The Coyotes first dropped a 2-1 decision at nationally-ranked Cal Poly Pomona on Friday night, prior to a 3-1 home defeat Sunday to Cal State Dominguez Hills. They are 2-1 away from home on the season. Steve Ralos is the first-year CSUSB head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD holds the advantage in the all-time series, 19-16-6. The Tritons swept the 2013 season series with a pair of 1-0 victories. The teams previously played to a 1-1 draw in San Bernardino on Sept. 16, 2012, before a 2-0 UCSD win in La Jolla two weeks later. UCSD swept both matches in 2011. The Tritons are 3-0-1 against the Coyotes over the last four years in La Jolla since a 2-1 CSUSB triumph in 2009. The Coyotes haven't scored at Triton Soccer Stadium in 378:40, and in 302:35 regardless of site.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Chico State (5-2-1, 0-2 CCAA) fell from a No. 5 ranking, out of the top 25 in Tuesday's most recent NSCAA national poll after suffering back-to-back losses last weekend to open the CCAA slate. Both defeats were narrow 1-0 road decisions, at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday night and at Cal State L.A. in double overtime on Sunday. The decisive strike in Carson also came late, in the 85th minute. The Wildcats are an unbeaten 3-0-1 at home on the year. They host No. 14 Cal Poly Pomona on Friday at 4:30 p.m. prior to welcoming in the Tritons on Sunday. Felipe Restrepo is in his seventh season in charge.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 10-6-3. The teams spit 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 then-14th-ranked Wildcats' home opener on Taylor Wirth's first collegiate goal in the 28th minute. The rivals then faced off in the semifinals of the CCAA Championship in Turlock, with Malek Bashti's first career goal the difference in overtime 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 sides played to a 1-1 draw before UCSD advanced via penalty-kick tiebreaker.

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 faces 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 has been announced 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.

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.

SOCIAL MEDIA (#TritonsRising)
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UP NEXT
The Tritons are in La Jolla for a pair of CCAA games on Homecoming weekend. UCSD will host Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, Oct. 10 (7 p.m.) and Cal State East Bay on Sunday, Oct. 12 (4:30 p.m.) at Triton Soccer Stadium.

#TritonsRising