UC Riverside (8-12-1), which had been beaten, 2-0, by UCI in their regular-season meeting on Oct. 10, overcame a 16-5 deficit in shots and had only three shots on goal to the Anteaters' seven. But the Highlanders made the most of their opportunities.
It was only the third win for Riverside in 14 meetings with UCI, which lost on penalty kicks to Cal State Fullerton in the 2012 conference tournament and was beaten by Long Beach State in the 2011 and 2010 championship game.
UC Riverside, making its first conference tournament appearance since 2005, advanced to Sunday's title game against either top-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or No. 4-seeded Cal State Fullerton.
The sixth Big West Tournament appearance in Juniper's seven years at the helm began well for the designated home team, as senior midfielder Mady Solow hooked in a free kick from 19 yards out that was set up by a foul just outside the box against junior forward and team scoring leader Laura McGrail in the 57th minute.
It was only the second goal of the season for Solow, a second-team All-Big West honoree. But it appeared to be more than Riverside could surmount as the Anteaters dominated possession and flow for virtually all of regulation.
"It was one of those games that we dominated 99.9% of the game," Juniper said. "It's bizarre. I don't know how many shots [the Highlanders] had on target. They hardly had the ball for the whole 90 minutes."
It didn't take much time for the Highlanders to convert their two scores.
Riverside's first tally came in the 73rd minute when a sliding tackle by sophomore goalie Corey Tobin was ruled a foul in the box against charging Highlanders' forward Tyler Cunningham, who launched herself over Tobin and fell to the turf without getting a shot off after pursuing a long service into the box.
