No. 7 Anteaters Bringing It On Home
October 17, 2011 | Men's Soccer
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
UC DAVIS AGGIES at
#7 UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
Wednesday, Oct. 19 - 7:00 PM
Irvine, Calif. - Anteater Stadium
CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS at
#7 UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
Saturday, Oct. 22 - 7:00 PM
Irvine, Calif. - Anteater Stadium
After a grueling road stretch, the Anteaters (12-3-0, 4-1-0) are ready to enjoy some home turf against a pair of conference schools that are right on the doorstep of crashing the top of the Big West.
HE SAID IT: "That's a very, very good opponent. They will do well this year," were the words of Creighton coach Elmar Bolowich after his No. 4 Blue Jays' win against the visiting 'Eaters. This coming after what he said was probably the best first half he'd seen his team play all season. Even with that stellar half, UCI was only down 1-0 and had numerous chances to tie going down the final stretch of the match.
Bolowich is in his first season at Creighton after 22 years at UNC which included 15 NCAA Tournament appearance, four College Cups, and a National title in 2001. High praise coming from a coach of his caliber.
UP, UP, AND AWAY: UC Irvine just finished off a grueling stretch of road which saw them go 3-1 in some hostile territory. On the year, the 'Eaters are 6-2 in true road matches. The two losses have come against schools ranked in the top 10. Overall, UCI is 26-5-5 on the road since 2008 with four of those losses coming against teams in the top 10.
Even their wins have been very decisive. Earlier in the month, the Anteaters shutout the No. 7 Gauchos in Santa Barbara. In this past week, they went into Riverside where the Highlanders were undefeated and won behind their best scoring output on the year with five goals.
UCI has two more road matches remaining which could be big as they will take on a pair of teams fighting for first place in Cal State Northridge and Cal Poly.
FOR A GOOD CAUSE: UC Irvine Athletics in conjunction with the UCI Campus Assault Resources and Education (CARE) office and Verizon Wireless is raising awareness about Dating and Domestic Violence at events from October 17-30.
Student-athletes, coaches and fans will wear purple in support of DVAM, while CARE peer educators will be educating attendees about the cause. Wear purple to show your support and bring old cell phones to donate to the Verizon Wireless Hopeline Cell Phone Drive. Any fan that donates a phone at Wednesday night's match against UC Davis will receive complimentary admission.
UC DAVIS AGGIES: UC Davis has solidified their place as the Big West darkhorse. The Aggies' non-conference schedule was trying as they would go 2-4-2, but scored big time results in a win against No. 6 UCLA in overtime (2-1) and a draw against the ranked Roadrunners of CSU Bakersfield (0-0).
In the Big West, they have taken down Cal Poly, split with CSUN, and took UCSB to overtime before falling. All-in-all, they stand in the middle of the three-way tie for second at 3-2 as the 'Eaters host them.
Omar Zeenni has had a wonderful year in net allowing just 13 goals in 13 matches. He has stopped 46 shots and recorded four shutouts.
Freshman Matt Sheldon is coming off a breakout week with a pair of goals while another freshman, Matt Wiesenfarth, leads the Aggies with four goals and eight points.
CAL STATE FULLERTON TITANS: The Titans are out for revenge as UCI went into CSUF and beat them, 2-1, in a game that did not feature Titan scoring leader Kevin Venegas (6 G, 3 A, 15 Pts). CSUF has struggled through the Big West with an 0-3-1 record being outscored, 12-2, in those matches.
Venegas will be back along with five other Titans who have scored multiple goals this season.
HOW WE MATCH UP: UCI took the series advantage with a 3-0 win at Davis last season as they are now 7-6-4 overall against the Aggies. The series in general has been very back-and-forth; UCI is 5-3-2 at home against UC Davis.
UCI also took back the all-time series record with their win two weeks ago at CSUF. UCI holds the advantage at 19-18-6 losing just twice since 2000. Each of those losses did come at Anteater Stadium including the last time the Titans visited. CSUF is 1-3 on the road in 2011.
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For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics-tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
