NCAA Tournament Second Round Preview
November 18, 2011 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- The UC Irvine Anteaters' return to the tournament begins Sunday at 6:00 p.m. in Anteater Stadium where they will host the Saint Mary's Gaels, champions of the West Coast Conference.
UCI, at 16-5-1, is back in the tournament after winning Big West regular season and tournament titles. The 'Eaters only other NCAA appearances came in 2008 and 2009 after making the tournament by virtue of the automatic Big West bid. In 2008, the men were the No. 14 national seed, and hosted conference rival, Cal Poly, following a first-round bye. The 'Eaters would advance with a 3-0 victory at Anteater Stadium. They would travel to St. John's, the No. 3 national seed, but fall, 3-2, ending their run.
The men returned in 2009 as the No. 16 national seed, but were ousted in their first match following the bye, 1-0, by Stanford at Anteater Stadium.
UCI has been led in past years by players Irving Garcia and Amani Walker. Garcia scored three times on four shots including the program's one game-winning goal after playing in all three previous NCAA Tournament matches. Walker has added a goal and two assists in those three matches. The only current 'Eaters with any NCAA experience are seniors Jimmy Turner (Mission Viejo / Mission Viejo HS), Norby Rodriguez (Thousand Oaks / Thousand Oaks HS), and Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev. / Sierra Vista HS). Turner played in two matches starting one while Rodriguez saw action in one match. Fontein has been the keeper in all three NCAA matches allowing four goals while stopping seven in 270 total minutes. Other current 'Eaters that have appeared on the NCAA roster include Everett Pitts (Chino Hills / Ayala HS), Jake Marcon (Dana Point / Dana Hills HS), Syd Tom (Leilehua / Wahiawa HS), and Enrique Cardenas (Coachella / Coachella Valley HS).
Saint Mary's, at 9-6-5, returns 12 players that were apart of the school's first and only tournament trip back in 2009 where it was an at-large bid. The team lost, 3-0, to Stanford in the opening round; the same Stanford club that defeated UCI in the following round. Six of those Gael players were in the starting lineup including keeper, Doug Herrick. Herrick has enjoyed a great 2011 season, as well, allowing just 17 goals in 20 matches. Saint Mary's has been ranked has high as 5th in the nation in goals allowed and defense. Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Gaels were ranked 15th in shutout percentage and 32nd in team goals against average. The Gaels have earned 11 shutouts, 10 solo efforts from Herrick, including his 1-0 win over CSU Bakersfield Thursday night, a team that had 39 goals in their previous 20 matches.
In that match, Saint Mary's defense was on display in its 1-0 win. It allowed just three shots on goal, all in the second half, and two of them coming from CSUB's star, Gyasi Zardes, who had seven total shots. Tom Mohoric, one of the returners from the 2009 NCAA Tournament squad, scored the goal by redirecting a direct kick from Julian Godinez, a transfer from UC Davis, just before halftime in the 42nd minute.
Saint Mary's and UC Irvine have had many common opponents including WCC foes, San Diego and Gonzaga, who the Gaels faced off with twice in 2011. The Gaels were slow out of the gate going 1-3-3 in non-conference play before going unbeaten in nine of 12 conference matchups. Saint Mary's is currently sporting a three-match win streak much like UC Irvine.
In two matches against Gonzaga, they blew out the Bulldogs, 3-0, at home and fought for a hard, 3-2, comeback victory in Seattle. The Gaels scored all three in the home match right around halftime in a game that saw the backup keeper gain some minutes. In the following tilt, Gonzaga took an early, 2-0, lead in the first 10 minutes. Saint Mary's closed the gap to 2-1 before Gonzaga earned a red card from its best player early in the second half. The Gaels would take advantage with two scores from Agustin Cazarez, two of his four on the year, including once in the 89th minute to steal the win, 3-2.
The Gaels had a couple of heated battles with the Toreros of USD. They finished the season with a 1-0 win at home. The squads ended even in shots and fouls as Saint Mary's scored in the 69th minute. Their first encounter early in conference play ended in a 0-0 draw at San Diego. The Gaels blasted 14 shots on the Toreros, however none were on goal. Both matches also included a red card.
UCI defeated both USD and Gonzaga in non-conference play. UCI got a beautifully-timed strike from Christian Hernandez (Palmdale / Taft College) to down USD, 1-0. Gonzaga gave the 'Eaters fits. After jumping out to an early lead, Gonzaga tied it up in the second half, but freshman Victor Calderon (San Jacinto / San Jacinto HS) would bury a shot off the post and in from deep in double-overtime for the 2-1 win.
Saint Mary's also had a pair of Big West opponents on its schedule in UC Riverside and UC Davis, the two schools that were able to defeat the Anteaters.
The Gaels outshot the Aggies in the opening match of the year for a 1-0 win at home. Saint Mary's would travel to Riverside a few matches later. Cody Suppe would turn in a superb performance and Cesar Diaz Pizarro would put one in in the 71st minute for the 1-0, UCR win.
The Gaels did make a trip out to Omaha to face the Creighton Blue Jays ranked No. 3 at the time. They were unable to score as part of Creighton keeper Brian Holt's early shutout streak, but the Gaels were able to hang in thanks to seven saves from Herrick falling 1-0. In the 'Eaters battle at Creighton, they fell behind early. UCI would figure it out in the second half, however the early deficit was too much to surmount.
These two schools are hungry for to get farther in the tournament this time around. Saint Mary's already has its first NCAA Tournament win under its belt with just two matches all-time. UCI only has one win as well in its three matches.
The Gaels and 'Eaters have matched up periodically. This meeting will be the 10th between them, all-time. They met four times in the 90s with the Gaels winning all four; three in Moraga and one, the inaugural meeting, in Irvine. The next four matches from 2000 to 2008 would go UCI's way winning at home in 2000 followed by a 2001 draw in Moraga and two more wins in 2006, on a neutral site, and 2008, at Saint Mary's.
The last matchup came in 2009 in Anteater Stadium. Going into the match, UC Irvine was ranked No. 16 in the nation at 4-1 and had just come off a road win at Marquette. Saint Mary's was fairing well out of the gate at 2-0-2.
The first half was scoreless with the 'Eaters outshooting the Gaels, 7-3. Jonathan Prieto would open up the scoring in the 62nd minute off a pass from Amani Walker for the 1-0 lead. Saint Mary's would respond ten minutes later with a goal from Erik Rivas. The match would continue into overtime as the Gaels would outshoot the 'Eaters in the extra frames. The Gaels would win out on a breakout in the 108th minute as Dylan Leslie, now Saint Mary's volunteer assistant coach, would receive a feed on an odd-man rush from Ben Sperber, now with UC Riverside, to put the match away, 2-1, Saint Mary's. Both keepers, Herrick and Fontein, finished with three saves, and will meet again on Sunday. Interesting also to note that UCI's volunteer assistant coach, Carlos Aguilar, was also in that match.
Fontein and Turner were the only current players to start in that match. Syd Tom came off the bench to play as well while Saint Mary's returns eight players that saw minutes, six of them starters.
Gaels coach, Adam Cooper, is in his fifth season at the helm and has had success with ranked schools such as UCI along with South Florida and USD in past years which were ranked 11th and 10th, respectively. He and the Gaels have played four ranked schools in 2011. Along with No. 3 Creighton and No. 25 CSU Bakersfield, they traveled to No. 17 UCLA losing 2-1. In conference action, the Gaels defeated No. 17 Santa Clara, 2-0, at home.
Entering the tournament, Saint Mary's posted an RPI of 54. Some notable schools that rate around the same RPI are UC Riverside (44), Wisconsin (47), CS Northridge (49), and UC Davis (51).
The 2011 teams each tout a stern defensive front. Saint Mary's has allowed under a goal per match (17 in 20) while nearly equaling that on offensive with 20 goals in 20 matches. UC Irvine has allowed exactly one goal per match and scored exactly two goals per match much like the CSUB squad that Saint Mary's just played. Both schools had eight players named all-conference this season.
The Anteaters are led by George Kuntz who is in his 17th season at UC Irvine and 23rd season coaching college soccer. Kuntz has had the Anteaters on a steady rise since the beginning that has included eight seasons of 10+ wins and 165 wins in his time at UCI. His 2011 squad has won 16 matches, a UCI men's soccer single-season record, which has capped a four-year stretch where the 'Eaters have won 60 matches in 87 contests. In Anteater Stadium this season, UCI is 8-3 and has gone 93-58 at home during Coach Kuntz's tenure. The 'Eaters have never won nine home matches in a season. For Coach Kuntz, his coaching career includes stints and Cal Lutheran and Pepperdine, and his next win will be his 300th victory in college soccer.
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