University of North Florida
UC Riverside
Men’s Soccer Continues Play at Home Against UC Riverside
9/22/2011 10:46:00 AM | Men's Soccer
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of North Florida men's soccer team plays its final nonconference match of the season as the Ospreys host UC Riverside on Friday, Sept. 23, at 7 p.m. at Hodges Stadium. The Ospreys enter the match with a 1-6-0 overall record, while the Highlanders are 3-2-1.
“We are excited to play a team from California like UC Riverside,” head coach Derek Marinatos stated. “The Highlanders are a good team and have done well so far this season. This is our final test before we start Atlantic Sun Conference play. We have played a lot of tough matches on the road to prepare for the conference season and it is nice to be able to close out nonconference play with a high caliber team like UCR at home.”
The meeting between North Florida and UC Riverside is the first in program history and will be the first time in school history that the Ospreys will host a team from California. UNF is 0-2-0 all-time against teams from California. North Florida travelled to the Golden State in 2005 and 2008 to square off against UC Irvine in the UC Irvine College Classic. On Sept. 3, 2005, the Ospreys fell 3-1 to the host Anteaters. Three years later on August 30, 2008, UNF was edged 1-0 by UCI in Irvine.
North Florida enters the match looking for its first home win of the season. After opening the season at home against Georgia Southern, the Ospreys left Jacksonville for a five-match road swing. In the return home, UNF held a 1-0 lead against Florida Atlantic for most of the match, but two late goals proved costly. In the match against the Owls, the Ospreys started nine freshmen, one sophomore and one junior – the youngest starting lineup of the year for UNF.
The UC Riverside men's soccer team travels cross country to Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend sporting a winning record for the first time since late in the 2007 campaign. The Highlanders opened the season splitting matches against CSU Bakersfield (L, 1-5) and Sacramento State (W, 3-0) before falling to Loyola Marymount (L, 1-4). Since starting the season 1-2-0, UCR is on a three-match unbeaten streak as the Highlanders defeated St. Mary's (W, 1-0) and UNLV (W, 2-1) and tied San Jose State (T, 1-1).
Offensively, the Ospreys are led by a trio of youngsters. Freshmen Mauricio Valderruten and Oscar Castillo, along with sophomore Josh Ciambella lead the team in goals, freshman Casey Caronis boasts the team lead in assists.
Freshmen Federico Bertele and Ryan Husted have both seen time at goalkeeper for the Ospreys. The duo have logged 630:00 combined minutes between the posts, recording 28 saves and boasting a shutout.
Despite playing only two home matches, the Ospreys attendance numbers have risen from a year ago. Last season, UNF played seven home matches for a combined crowd of 1,706 (244 per match). This season, the Ospreys have already played in front of 1,046 (523 per match) with five home matches remaining in the season. In the first match of the season, North Florida set the school record with 707 fans at Hodges Stadium.
“Our fans have been great,” Marinatos added. “So far this year, we have played in front of the largest home crowd in school history. I want the fans to continue to come out and support us as continue to work hard towards our goal of the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament.”
