Ibarra, Fontein Vault 'Eaters to Top of Big West
October 08, 2011 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- A physical match between UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge brought out the best in Miguel Ibarra (Lancaster / Taft College) and Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev. / Sierra Vista HS) keying a 2-0 win at Anteater Stadium and sole possession of first place for the 'Eaters.
The 'Eaters (11-2-0, 3-1-0) had some early opportunities, but couldn't get anything cooking. The Matadors (5-5-1, 2-1-0) responded to all of UCI's attacks putting a few chances on Fontein.
The story of the first half was the contact. The teams would trade bumps and fouls throughout the half. The Anteaters finished with 10 fouls to CSUN's 12. Along with the fouls came the cards; two for the Matadors and one for UCI.
Christian Hernandez (Palmdale / Taft College) put a nice free kick on net, but CSUN keeper Michael Abalos got a hand on it as it glanced off the post and out. The game remained scoreless through the half as momentum had yet to be established.
The tone was set early in the second half as Everett Pitts (Chino Hills / Ayala HS) went after the first ball hard and won it. The Anteaters would feed off of this and pummel the net. In the 58th minute, they would make CSUN pay.
UC Irvine caught a nice run as Ibarra found a wide open Jimmy Turner (Mission Viejo / Mission Viejo HS) who would give it back to him. Ibarra rushed towards the end line before crossing it on the ground. The ball would deflect off a Matador defender and roll in for the goal giving UCI the 1-0 lead.
The half would continue with a lot better play and less fouling. UCI had a couple nice tries and near misses from Turner and Cameron Iwasa (Sacramento / Jesuit HS).
The Matadors kept coming and peppered Fontein throughout the half. They had 10 shots in the second half alone with nine of them on goal, but Fontein stopped all of them including a run by Edwin Rivas that Fontein stopped with a sprawl as Rivas was bearing down on the goal.
The defense shut down CSUN and was able to get a great breakout as time wound down. Victor Calderon (San Jacinto / San Jacinto HS), who saw his first action in weeks, captured the ball and drove down the far side line. He fed a cross through the box that deflected off a defender and found Memo Licona (Lake Forest / Laguna Hills HS) who nudged it into the clear for Ibarra. He would put it away inside the near post to add some insurance in the 89th minute.
UCI would run down the final minutes and celebrate their third conference victory. CSUN dropped their first conference match to go to 2-1 in the Big West.
Fontein added to his win total with 11 on the season. He earned his fifth shutout, three in his last five matches. CSUN had scored three goals in each of their last three matches.
Ibarra scored his fifth of the year tying Hernandez and Enrique Cardenas (Coachella / Coachella Valley HS) for the team lead.
Licona got onto the scoreboard with his first assist and point as an Anteater.
The interesting stat of the night comes from the corner kick department. UC Irvine did not attempt a corner kick on the night. The last time that happened was Oct. 14, 2005 when the team tied No. 15 UCSB, 2-2.
The next match for UCI comes at UC Riverside on Wed. Oct. 12. They play at 7:00 p.m., and will follow up that match with a non-conference tilt in Nebraska against No. 5 Creighton.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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.
