THE SCHEDULE
Match 14
at Cal State Monterey Bay (2-6-3, 1-4-1 CCAA)
Friday, Oct. 17 • 12:30 p.m.
Otter Sports Complex • Seaside
Live Stats

Match 15
at SF State (5-5-2, 1-4-1 CCAA)
Sunday, Oct. 19 • 11:30 a.m.
Cox Stadium • San Francisco
Live Video • Live Stats

THIRD-PLACE TRITONS BEGIN LENGTHY ROAD STRETCH IN SEASIDE FRIDAY
Just past the halfway point of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule, the UC San Diego men's soccer team now embarks on a season-long four-match road stretch. The Tritons, 9-3-1 overall and currently alone in third place in the 12-team league standings with 13 points from a 4-1-1 mark, make their first of back-to-back northern forays this week. They play at Cal State Monterey Bay on Friday, Oct. 17, at 12:30 p.m., and at SF State on Sunday, Oct. 19, at 11:30 a.m. Both matches this week precede UCSD women's games at 3 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively, and will have live stats. Sunday's match at SF State will have live streaming video courtesy of GatorTV and Ustream.

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 sixth in the NSCAA's West Region poll, up from seventh.

A LOOK BACK AT LAST WEEK
UCSD blanked Cal State East Bay, 2-0, last Sunday after playing to a 1-1 draw with Cal State Stanislaus on Friday night. Both matches were at home. Against the Warriors, both teams' goals came largely courtesy of deflections, with the visitors striking first after a free kick squirted through the Triton wall and fell at the foot of a wide-open Stanislaus player in the 36th minute. UCSD's equalizer came in the 63rd, when freshman winger Sean Pleskow's attempt from around the penalty spot took multiple deflections on its way across the goal line. Sunday's opener was an own goal after Malek Bashti's shot from a right-sided Eric Young cross came back off the right post. Bashti then clinched the three points by turning in Sam Palano's through ball down the left side in the 68th minute.

POSTSEASON PICTURE
Sunday's win over Cal State East Bay gave UCSD sole possession of third place in the 12-team CCAA standings, now with 13 points from a 4-1-1 league ledger. The top six teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the CCAA Championship. The Tritons are five points behind undefeated Cal Poly Pomona, and two behind Cal State L.A. This week's opponents, Cal State Monterey Bay and SF State, share ninth place with four points each.

STRONG ROAD START
UCSD has won its first two CCAA road contests for the fourth time, having done so previously in 2004, 2006 and 2008. Overall, the Tritons head into this season-long four-match road stretch a perfect 3-0 outside of La Jolla so far in 2014. The only other years during the Division II era in which UCSD won its first three road matches were 2000, its first after the move up from Division III, and 2004. The Tritons lost their fourth road fixture in each of those seasons.

LATE-GAME HEROICS FOR BAUMAN
Each of UCSD's first two road games in the CCAA this season have resulted in 1-0 victories over big rivals, with the lone goal coming both times from senior playmaker Brandon Bauman. The Huntington Beach product converted his penalty kick in the 75th minute of the Sept. 26 win at Cal State L.A., and on Oct. 5, struck in the 85th minute to down archrival Chico State.

PREMIER DEFENSE
UCSD is back in the top 10 in the NCAA Division II in team goals-against average through games played on Oct. 15, with a 0.60 mark putting the Tritons in ninth. They were in 15th through Oct. 5, prior to allowing a single goal over 200 minutes on Oct. 10 and Oct. 12. UCSD has boasted one of the top five defenses nationally in Division II in terms of GAA 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 the 2-0 home loss to CPP on Sept. 28. Still, the Tritons have posted 28 shutouts over their last 51. Their six shutouts in 2014 have come over the last nine matches (0.43 GAA).

SCORE TWO, GET THE WIN
UCSD is a perfect 7-0 in 2014 when scoring at least two goals. The Tritons are 2-3-1 when tallying less than two goals. Going back to late in the 2011 campaign, UCSD has won 22 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. The Tritons have a pair of 4-0 triumphs and a 3-0 victory in 2014, all at home.

TRITON NOTES
After 11 wins by the final score of 1-0 over 2012 and 2013, UCSD has two so far in 2014 ... The Tritons' 4-0 victory 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 ... They since added a second 4-0 home win, over Cal State San Bernardino on Oct. 3, with three goals coming on free-kick organizations, and three via headers ... 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 goalkeeper Cameron McElfresh has posted six shutouts this season to give him nine clean sheets for his career ... The four returning Triton starters from a year ago are midfielder Brandon Bauman, forwardAlessandro 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 wingerZachary 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 67-39-20 (.611) overall record in his seventh season in charge of the UCSD men's soccer program. He is 50-33-16 (.586) 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. The most recent 2-0 home win over Cal State East Bay last Sunday, Oct. 12, meant CCAA win No. 50 for Pascale, who will coach his 100th CCAA tilt in Seaside this Friday afternoon, Oct. 17.

ABOUT THE OTTERS
Cal State Monterey Bay enters the weekend at 2-6-3 overall and 1-4-1 in the CCAA. The Otters, who are 2-2-1 in Seaside in 2014, most recently suffered a weekend road sweep at Cal State L.A. (2-0) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (2-1 OT). Rob Cummings is in his fourth season in charge in Seaside.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 6-2-2. The Tritons are unbeaten in their last seven (5-0-2) against the Otters, with four of those five wins of the one-goal variety around a 5-0 triumph on their previous visit to Seaside in 2012. UCSD is 3-2 at CSUMB all-time. The Tritons have won four straight over the Otters regardless of venue, including a 2-1 decision in La Jolla in 2013.

ABOUT THE GATORS
SF State is 5-5-2 overall and, like Monterey Bay, 1-4-1 in CCAA play. The Gators are an unbeaten 4-0-2 at Cox Stadium this season, while they are a winless 0-4 away from home. SF State has lost four straight on the heels of a decent start to the league campaign, including back-to-back shutout defeats at Cal State Dominguez Hills (2-0) and Cal State L.A. (1-0) this past weekend. Matt Barnes is in his first year in charge of the Gators, who host eighth-ranked and unbeaten Cal Poly Pomona Friday at 12:30 p.m. prior to welcoming in the Tritons.

SERIES HISTORY
UCSD leads the all-time series, 10-4-3, and took last year's lone meeting, 2-1 at home. In 2012, the Tritons won 1-0 in La Jolla before the sides played to a scoreless stalemate in San Francisco. The teams faced each other twice in 2011 as well, as fellow members of the CCAA South, with the Tritons pulling off a sweep. UCSD is an unbeaten 6-0-2 against SF State over the last eight match-ups, and is 3-0-1 over its last four trips to San Francisco since a 1-0 Gator win in 2005. The Tritons have not allowed a goal to the home side at Cox Stadium in exactly 400:00.

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.

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UP NEXT
UCSD concludes this road stretch next weekend, playing at Sonoma State on Oct. 24 and at Humboldt State on Oct. 26.

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