No. 24 Anteaters Gear Up for Season Against Alumni
August 15, 2011 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- The No. 24 Anteaters have a strong class of newcomers to defend their Big West regular season title.
FRESH PRODUCE: The newest Anteaters will finally get their chance to get their feet dirty with the Alumni Game, Saturday Aug. 20. The game will be held at Anteater Stadium at 5 p.m.
The incoming class is ranked No. 39 among collegesoccernews.com's Top 40 recruiting classes.
The top name from this class is Juan Gutierrez (Santa Ana / Junipero Serra HS). He has garnered countless awards at the prep and club levels. Most notably, he was named an NSCAA High School All-American, High School State Player of the Year, ESPN Rise Best IX West Region Team, and Orange County Register Player of the Year.
Gutierrez, known as "Crabby", scored 50 goals in his last two seasons at JSerra High School.
Coach Kuntz has called Gutierrez "dangerous", "unique", and a "leader" who has a "sense to execute when goal-scoring opportunities arise".
Another big name added to the team is Mitchell Alvarez (Huntington Beach / Edison HS). Alvarez was named second team All-CIF and first team all-county along with a fourth place finish in Nationals with his club team.
Coach Kuntz has described him as "an overall work-horse" with a "very powerful left foot".
An interesting addition is actually two people, twin brothers Michael Breslin and Bryan Breslin (Rancho Santa Margarita / Tesoro HS). As identical as these brothers are, one plays goalkeeper while the other is a midfielder.
Bryan will be in the midfield, and Coach Kuntz calls him a "natural" who is very good at "linking the back line to the forward line".
Michael comes in as a goalkeeper that could possibly be an "incredible" goalkeeper if he keeps his progress. Both played at the No. 1 club team for the No. 1 coach so they are primed for the college level.
The rest of the class, top to bottom, and very impressive as well.
Defender Daniel Coates (Orange / Servite HS) was High School Freshman of the Year at Servite High School.
Lester Hayes III (Alexandria, Va. / De Matha Catholic HS) comes from the No. 3-ranked high school in the country by NSCAA en rout to being named first team All-WCAC.
ON THE REBOUND: The 2011 men's soccer team is going to have a little different feel. The 2010 Big West regular season champs were denied entrance to the NCAA Tournament, something they were a part of in 2008 and 2009. Much of their esteemed squad has moved on to bigger and better things.
The 2010 Big West Offensive Player of the Year Amani Walker has taken his 11 goals and four game-winning goals to the North American Soccer League after being drafted by the MLS's Chicago Fire.
All-Big West second-teamer Spencer Thompson's six goals and six assists went in the first round to the Portland Timbers.
Corey Attaway joined Walker on the NSCAA All-West Region first team, and took his five goals to the second round where the Seattle Sounders FC took him.
Another Big West first-teamer, Joel Bagby, along with Zach Olow, Brett Berman, and third-teamer Gray Bailey all have moved on, as well.
There are some bright spots to build off of in 2011. Second team All-Big West goalkeeper Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev. / Sierra Vista HS) will look to add to his many UCI records. He has earned many records with shutouts, goals against average, and wins.
Junior college transfer Miguel Ibarra (Lancaster / Taft College) broke through in a big way for UC Irvine in 2010 with 10 assists and was honored with All-West Region and first team All-Big West awards.
Junior defender Everett Pitts (Chino Hills / Ayala HS) also impressed and earned All-Big West Honorable Mention status.
The team got contributions from other younger players such as Christian Hernandez (Palmdale / Palmdale HS), Jimmy Turner (Mission Viejo / Mission Viejo HS), Christopher Santana (Bishop / Bishop Union HS), and Bello Alhassan (Ghana / Arizona Western College), all of whom played considerable time, and will be called upon to carry the club back to the postseason.
ACCORDING TO SCHEDULE: The Anteaters sit at No. 24 in the NSCAA rankings, a welcomed sight to Coach Kuntz and the coaching staff as the expectations bar has been raised.
The season officially kicks off Aug. 26 when the University of San Diego Toreros visit Anteater Stadium. The Toreros are ranked just outside the top-25.
The 'Eaters have two ranked opponents on their schedule in No. 10 Creighton and No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, each of whom made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Florida Gulf Coast, like USD, is ranked just outside the top-25. They will meet in the South Florida Tournament followed by a matchup with South Florida, another NCAA Tournament participant.
UCI is at a disadvantage in that they must take on their ranked opponents on the road; at Santa Barbara (UCSB) and at Omaha, Neb. (Creighton).
