One year and going strong.

You never know who you’re going to run into.

  
Mark Twain would have loved the view.

  
Good-bye Sunshine. Following the Old Miss to her beginnings.

Women’s Soccer Punches Ticket To Big West Tourney With 1-0 Win Over CSUN

Riverside—The UC Riverside Women’s Soccer Team punched its ticket to the Big West Tournament Thursday evening with a 1-0 victory over visiting CSUN. That secured the number four seed for the Highlanders, and they will take on either UC Santa Barbara of Long Beach State in the 5 pm PT semifinal match on Thursday, November 5.

All three conference tournament matches are being held on the campus of Cal State Fullerton. The Championship game is slated for Sunday, November 8 at 1 pm.

UC Riverside won’t know its opponent until the completion of Sunday’s UC Santa Barbara at CSUN match which kicks off at 2 pm. If the Gauchos win or tie, they are the one seed, and if the Gauchos lose, the 49ers get the top spot. Cal State Fullerton is locked in at the three seed, and will play at 7:30 pm.

The Highlanders dominated play Thursday night, outshooting the Matadors, 17-7. They scored the only goal they would need in the 23rd minute when Brittany Mata headed Blanca Barrio’s corner kick past the CSUN defense.

UC Riverside had two other golden scoring opportunities in the second period, but Matadors’ keeper Cynthia Tafoya smothered a Tyler Cunningham shot, and Barrio’s sliding attempt from straight on at an empty net sailed over the goal.

The win gave the UC Riverside 11 wins on the season which is the second most victories in the history of the program behind the 13 recorded by the 2004 version of the Highlanders. The five conference wins on the year tied a program record set by the 2003 squad.

Instead of dancing, again, heartbroken, “we” have to bring Brittany a pan of lasagna for after tomorrow’s finale. I told her as long as she wasn’t a “Texas Ranger” she’d get it. “Walker, Texas Ranger” was a popular TV show back in the 90s staring Chuck Noris. For the past 15 years, I used this TV title to yell at Brit on the field when I thought she wasn’t running hard enough. I’d leave out the “Walker” and would just yell, let’s go Texas Ranger! Other parents thought I was being encouraging, but Brit knew I was being half encouraging Dad, half asshole. It mostly pissed Brittany off, but she always responded with a burst of energy and rose above the competitiion. I have only referenced “Texas Ranger” once this season, but honestly, I no longer know what I’m talking about. Brittany has become a recognized, high level Division I soccer player that has forgotten more than I know, so I will do my best to sit back, shut up, and enjoy her play.

Sonia canceled our salsa lessons for the third Wednesday in a row. I’m heartbroken. So, I figured I’d cross five things off the list that are definitely not happening.

#8 Pearl Jam: I haven’t seen Pearl Jam in concert since 1992 at Varsity Theatre at Marquette University. With them currently in Chile, I’m positive I won’t be hooking up with them in Latin America this year.

#23 Go to a baseball stadium that I’ve never been to: Although I have surprisingly watched both Royals/Mets game to conclusion, I will not be seeing a game in Kansas City this year.

#83 Celebrate Octoberfest: The month has passed me by.

#93 Grow a cocktail garden: My friend Tomiko gave me a cocktail herb garden kit for my birthday. I planted my crops and killed them within a week.

#95 Ride on a rickshaw: Southeast Asia is a goal, but it looks like we’re staying west this year.

Brit made sure the Highlanders had a better outcome against Cal Poly by scoring in the 9th minute. Her second goal of the season proved to be the game winner as UCR went on to win 2-0. Now 4-3, The Highlanders control their own destiny and must win on Thursday to make it to the Big West playoffs.

  
Not a bad place to spend a beautiful Santa Barbara morning.

  
Brittany’s uncle, aunt and cousins made the trip to Santa Barbara and saw another Big West slugfest. Despite Brit’s nearly 90 minutes of brilliant play, UCR lost 3-2 in double overtime. They’ll need to win the final two games for a chance to make the playoffs.

Tried to ease Sonia’s Cubs pain with some pozole. Spicy, but turned out pretty good.

Riverside—The UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton Women’s Soccer Teams engaged in an old-fashioned slugfest Sunday evening in a battle for Big West Conference supremacy, but the lone score of the match came on a Titans PK giving Fullerton a 1-0 victory.

Source: The Official Athletics Site of University of California – Riverside – Women’s Soccer Engages In Epic Slugfest With Fullerton, but 2nd Half PK Gives Titans, 1-0 Win

Pretty good.

If you lived in the women’s Big West Conference world, you would’ve felt the earth shake tonight when the Highlanders beat the nationally ranked and conference undefeated 49ers of Long Beach State on the road.

Here’s the recap…

Long Beach, CA—Blanca Barrio scored a pair of goals Friday evening as the UC Riverside Women’s Soccer Team upended Long Beach State, 2-1, to move into first place in the Big West Conference.

The 49ers entered the match a perfect 3-0 in conference play with three shutouts. Barrio ended that streak in the 22nd minute after receiving a Brittany Mata pass just outside the Long Beach defensive 18.

The junior made it 2-0 Highlanders (9-6-0, 3-1-0) just over three minutes into the second half, as her shot from 25 yards out sailed over the outstretched arms of 49ers keeper Ashton McKeown, and under the cross bar.

Barrio now has five goals on the season and leads UCR with 16 points on the year.

Long Beach State (8-4-3, 3-1-0) ended UC Riverside’s bid for a shutout in the 71st minute after a UCR foul in their box gave the 49ers a penalty kick. Mimi Rangel converted to slice the Highlanders’ lead in half.

The Beach pushed for the equalizer, recording three corner kicks over the final 19 minutes and change, but the Highlanders kept their next clean the rest of the way for the win.

UC Riverside return home Sunday for a 6 pm PT kickoff against Cal State Fullerton. At halftime of the match, the Highlanders are honoring their 2005 NCAA Tournament Team, which was the first women’s team in any sport to earn an NCAA bid in UC Riverside’s Division I era.

  
The icing on the cake.

  
Indoor bocce at our new favorite Chicago hotel. The Chicago Athletic Club Hotel.

#60 Done: See a game at Wrigley Field.

Didn’t think this one was going to happen, but after supporting my Giants for the last five years, I owed it to Sonia to help celebrate her team. Lucky for us, we picked a good one. And historic for the following reasons.

• This was the 1,453rd game in postseason history. It was the first in which a team — any team — hit six home runs in one game.

• Before this game, no team had ever even had five different players hit a home run in the same postseason game. The Cubs had six.

• Even more incredibly, it was their 1-2-3-4-5-6 hitters who hit those home runs. According to ESPN Stats and Info, there have only been two REGULAR-SEASON season games in the entire live-ball era in which any team’s 1-2-3-4-5-6 hitters homered. The 1954 New York Giants did it. And the Mets’ 1-through-7 hitters all homered in a game in Philadelphia two months ago. That’s it.

• Three of those home runs came from players aged 23 years old and younger — Kris Bryant, Jorge Soler and Schwarber. It was the first time in postseason history that three hitters that young homered in the same game.

• Four of those home runs came from players aged 25 and younger — those three, plus 25-year-old Starlin Castro. It was also the first time in postseason history that four players that young homered in the same game. Anthony Rizzo would have made it five, if he hadn’t turned 26 a mere nine weeks ago. Then again, it was also the first time five players aged 26 and under homered in a postseason game. So there’s that.

• The Cardinals hadn’t allowed five home runs in a postseason game since Game 4 of the 1928 World Series, when Babe Ruth hit three, Lou Gehrig hit one and Cedric Durst hit the fifth. On this night, even Ruth and Gehrig got drummed out of the record books.

• The Cardinals also scored six runs — in a game started by Arrieta — and lost. They were working on a 54-game winning streak, counting regular season and postseason, in games in which they scored six runs or more. So much for that.

• In one more non-home-run tidbit, 23-year-old Cubs outfielder Soler came to bat five times and reached base five times — meaning he has now reached base in the first nine postseason plate appearances of his life. He’s nearly doubled the old record of five, held by Johnny Damon. But of course, “he still could,” said Coghlan. “He still hasn’t made an out, so it’s still going.”

  
Driving on an empty 405 freeway makes the 3am roll call worth it.

UCR survived the triple digit temperature and scored a 3-1 victory over UC Davis to up their conference record to 2-1. It was a much needed win as they will play the top two teams in the conference next weekend.

  
Removed the battery. Now it’s always happy hour.

The Highlanders notched their first conference win. Brittany was held out of practice all week due to a sprained knee and another bout with strep throat. Nevertheless, she played a solid 55 minutes to help her team beat Hawaii.

It’s an odd year, so I’ll root for her Cubs.

UCR fell to UC Irvine 1-0 in the first conference game of the year. Just seven games to go. They probably need to win four to make it to the playoffs.

  
Tried another new restaurant on Melrose. Atmosphere and wine was great. Food was mediocre.

A very Beverly Hills kind of day.

Before

After

The rocks were crumbling, so we opted for this aluminum tile.

Welcomed a new intern at Basically Me.

College update: Burroughs players excelling in volleyball, soccer

Gonzalez, Rutecki contributing for ranked teams; O’Brien, Mata thriving for Big West Conference squads.

By Jeff Tully, jeff.tully@latimes.com

12:40 PM PDT, September 29, 2015

The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.

Dani Gonzalez (Burroughs High, 2014) freshman, California Lutheran University women’s volleyball: The former all-league and All-Area player is contributing to a Regals team that remains ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

Cal Lutheran remains unbeaten in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Heading into a Tuesday evening match at Occidental College, the Regals are 13-2, 3-0 in conference and ranked No. 7 by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn.

Cal Lutheran won a battle of top-10 ranked teams when it swept No. 9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 25-22, 25-14, 25-15, in a conference contest Saturday.

Gonzalez, a libero, has seen playing time in 10 matches this season. Along with 28 digs, she has tallied eight assists. The sophomore’s best performance this season came Sept. 12 when she had 14 digs in a sweep of Life Pacific College. She also collected nine digs Sept. 11 in a three-game win against Providence Christian College.

The Regals will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday when they host Chapman College.

Haley O’Brien (Burroughs High) senior, UC Irvine women’s soccer: O’Brien, who played three seasons for the Indians, has remained a valuable part of the Anteaters defense for her senior season.

She is again seeing substantial playing time after appearing and starting in all the team’s 19 matches last season as a junior. O’Brien has been a mainstay in the backfield during her tenure with the Anteaters, playing in 16 contests as a sophomore and 21 as a freshman, when she led the team with 1,989 minutes played.

This season, O’Brien has played in eight of 11 matches, starting seven and has two shots.

It has been an up and down season for UC Irvine, which stands at 4-6-1. The Anteaters are coming off of a 4-0 loss Friday at home against Santa Clara.

The Anteaters open Big West Conference play at 1 p.m. Sunday when they host UC Riverside.

Brittany Mata (Burroughs High, 2013) UC Riverside soccer sophomore: The forward is making her presence known this season for the Highlanders.

Mata is currently tied for fourth on the team with four points. She has one goal and seven shots to go along with two assists. Her goal came Aug. 23 in a 3-1 victory against Liberty College. Her assists came Sept. 2 in a 2-0 win against Houston Baptist and Sept. 6 in a 3-0 victory over Cal State University Bakersfield.

UC Riverside moved back over the .500 mark Sunday when it earned a 1-0 road win at North Dakota State. Blanca Barrio provided UC Riverside with all the offense it would need in the 26th minute when she converted a penalty kick. The victory improved the Highlanders to 6-5-0, and concluded the team’s nonconference schedule.

The Highlanders open Big West Conference play at 1 p.m. Sunday when they travel to UC Irvine.

Katie Rutecki (Burroughs High, 2014) junior, College of the Canyons women’s volleyball: Rutecki, a setter, has played a big part in the success this season for the Cougars, ranked No. 3 by the California Community College Athletic Assn.

College of the Canyons improved to 10-1 with a 25-19, 25-16, 25-9 win Sept. 23 against visiting Cuesta College. Rutecki had 21 assists, three kills, one dig and one block in the victory.

On the season, Rutecki, who has seen time in all 11 matches, leads the team in assists with 342. In addition, she has 32 kills, 66 digs and 11 blocks.

The Cougars will return to action at 6 p.m. on Wednesday when they travel to No. 4 Santa Barbara City College to play in the finale of the annual Western State Conference Crossover Series featuring teams from the conference’s North and South divisions. The team will return home Friday for its WSC opener when it hosts Antelope Valley College in a 6 p.m. contest.