THE SCHEDULE
Match 3
vs. Concordia (0-0, 0-0 PacWest)
Tuesday, Sept. 8 • 7 p.m.
Triton Soccer Stadium • La Jolla
Live Stats

Match 4
at No. 19 Azusa Pacific (0-2, 0-0 PacWest)
Thursday, Sept. 10 • 7:30 p.m.
Cougar Soccer Complex • Azusa
Live Video • Live Stats

Match 5
at California Baptist (0-1-1, 0-0 PacWest)
Saturday, Sept. 12 • 4:30 p.m.
Lancer Soccer Field • Riverside
Live Video • Live Stats

UCSD SET FOR HOME OPENER TUESDAY NIGHT
After going 0-1-1 on the road at two Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponents to open the 2015 season, the UC San Diego men's soccer team goes up against three Pacific West Conference (PacWest) foes over a five-day span this week. First up is the home opener on Tuesday, Sept. 8, as Concordia Irvine (0-0) makes the short trip south. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. UCSD then plays at preseason PacWest favorite Azusa Pacific (0-2) on Thursday night, Sept. 10, at 7:30 p.m., and at California Baptist (0-1-1) in Riverside on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 4:30 p.m. Both of those contests are the second halves of doubleheaders, with the Triton women also competing against the Cougars and Lancers at 5 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.

Thursday's venue in Azusa is exactly where UCSD saw its 2014 campaign come to an end, falling just short in a penalty-kick tiebreaker against Cal State L.A. in the first round of the NCAA Championship on Nov. 13. The Tritons are winless through two matches for the first time since 2010. They went 7-3-2 at home and 3-1-3 outside of La Jolla in 2014.

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 Saturday and Sunday. All games, home and away, have live stats. Some matches will feature video and/or audio, including both road tilts this week at Azusa Pacific and California Baptist, each for a pay-per-view fee of $7.95. All live links are available here.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD returned from its season-opening trip to Washington state with a tie and a loss. The Tritons settled for a 1-1 draw at Saint Martin's last Thursday afternoon, unable to hang onto their slim advantage after Danny Glascockscored UCSD's first goal of 2015 in the 18th minute. It was the first of his career, with assists to Uly de la Cal and Sam Palano. The Tritons then fell Saturday at Western Washington, 2-0.

CCAA PRESEASON POLL
UCSD was picked by league head coaches to place fourth in the 2015 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) preseason poll. The CCAA favorite is sixth-ranked reigning West Region champion Cal State L.A., the Golden Eagles compiling 139 points and eight out of the 13 available first-place votes this year with UCSD's local rival Cal State San Marcos the newest addition to the conference. Cal Poly Pomona took second (123 points, four first-place votes), just ahead of Cal State Dominguez Hills (122 points, one first-place vote). Closely following UCSD (93 points) were Stanislaus State (91), Chico State (90), Cal State San Bernardino (86) and Sonoma State (85).

FOR OPENERS
UCSD is 11-3-2 in season openers in the Division II era. The Tritons had won two straight lid-lifters, 2-1 in overtime at California Baptist in 2013, and by that same score at home against Saint Martin's in 2014, prior to last Thursday's 1-1 draw at SMU.

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).

2015 SEASON OUTLOOK
The Tritons are coming off of back-to-back trips to both the CCAA Championship and the NCAA Division II Championship. They have posted a winning record in five straight seasons and six out of seven under head coach Jon Pascale. UCSD went 10-4-6 overall and 5-2-4 in CCAA play in 2014, finishing in a tie for third in the then-12-team league. Among the group that need to be replaced are offensive stalwarts Alessandro Canale (two goals, five assists) and midfield general Brandon Bauman, as well as starting outside backs Matthew McClure and Nick Roberts. Bauman led the team in goals (six), assists (nine) and total points (21) in 2014.

Pascale does welcome back the center of his 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 being forced to sit out 12 of 20 games a year ago.

ROSTER NOTES
Among 28 players on the 2015 roster are 15 returners, 13 newcomers, and no seniors. Seven new players made their Triton debuts during the season's first weekend, including five true freshmen seeing their first collegiate action, and junior Justice Duerksen, a transfer from Division I Seattle University, starting both matches on the left wing. 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).

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 68-41-26 (.600) overall record in his eighth season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 51-34-19 (.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 EAGLES
Concordia (0-0), located in Irvine, was picked to finish eighth in the 14-team PacWest in that league's preseason coaches' poll. The Eagles will be contesting their 2015 opener in La Jolla on Tuesday night. They went 11-4-2 in 2014. Chris Gould enters his seventh season in charge.

SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series between these teams is tied at 1-1. They last 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.

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Azusa Pacific (0-2), ranked No. 19 nationally in the preseason, will likely tumble out of the first poll when it is unveiled on Tuesday after dropping each of its first two matches, both at home, and surrendering nine goals in the process. APU lost to a pair of UCSD's CCAA foes, 4-2 to Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday and 5-1 to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday. The Cougars are the PacWest favorites, having received 12 of 14 first-place votes in the preseason poll. They qualified for the NCAA Division II Championship in their first season of eligibility a year ago, winning the PacWest with an 11-1 league mark. APU lost to Cal State L.A., 1-0, in the second round at home. David Blomquist, the 2014 PacWest Coach of the Year, is in his seventh year at the helm.

SERIES HISTORY
APU holds a narrow 11-10-1 edge in the all-time series following a double-overtime 1-0 triumph in La Jolla last Sept. 20 courtesy of Keenan Armbrust's strike at 101:43. Tyler Jaramillo had six saves in the Cougar cage for the clean sheet. 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 LANCERS
California Baptist (0-1-1), located in Riverside, is picked to place third in the PacWest. The Lancers, like the Tritons, were in Washington to begin the season, losing 1-0 at Seattle Pacific last Thursday night before tying Simon Fraser 1-1 in a neutral-site meeting on Saturday afternoon. Also like UCSD, CBU plays twice more before Saturday's showdown, against a pair of CCAA opponents. The Lancers host Cal State Dominguez Hills on Tuesday in their home opener, and then go to Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday night. Sophomore goalkeeper Noah Oyler was tabbed PacWest Defender of the Week on Monday. Gregg Schroeder is the program's third-year head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 5-1. Most recently, the Tritons produced a comprehensive 3-0 victory at home last Sept. 18 on goals by Malek Bashti, Nick Palano and Zachary Lagotta, with Cameron McElfresh needing to make just a single save to notch the shutout. They rallied to edge the Lancers in overtime, 2-1, in the 2013 season opener for both teams in Riverside. Alessandro Canale scored the 57th-minute equalizer from a free kick, and Andisheh Bagheri nabbed the winner from the penalty spot 3:57 into the first overtime period. CBU's lone success was a 2-0 shutout in La Jolla in the 2012 season opener. Saturday will mark the fifth straight year in which the teams have squared off.

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
The Tritons are faced with a second straight three-match week next week, with all three contests at home. They first round out their six-game non-conference slate against crosstown rival Point Loma on Tuesday night, Sept. 15. UCSD then begins the CCAA portion of its schedule with Cal Poly Pomona on Friday, Sept. 18, and Cal State San Bernardino on Sunday, Sept. 20. Kickoff at Triton Soccer Stadium on all three nights is set for 7 p.m.

#TritonsRising