No. 5 UC Irvine Hosts Former Big West Rival to Prepare for Conference Play
September 19, 2011 | Men's Soccer
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
UNLV REBELS at
#5 UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
Friday, Sept. 23 - 7:00 p.m.
Irvine, Calif. - Anteater Stadium
The Anteaters took their highest ranking ever to Florida and came away with a split as No. 12 USF handed the 'Eaters their first loss. UCI looks to regain that winning edge against UNLV in time for conference play.
SPLIT DECISION: The 'Eaters ventured to the other sunshine state to matchup with a pair of Florida schools splitting the two matches.
Florida Gulf Coast challenged the Anteaters and took them down to the final minutes. UCI took control after goals in back-to-back minutes from Christopher Santana (Bishop / Bishop Union HS) and Miguel Ibarra (Lancaster / Taft College). FGCU would fight back and close the gap. UCI would secure the victory, 2-1, and remain undefeated.
The No. 12 Bulls of South Florida had their number, however, as an early 13th minute score gave USF all they needed. The 'Eaters struggled to put together a formidable attack in the hot, muggy Florida weather. USF added a late goal for the 2-0 win.
The 'Eaters return home for their final non-conference match before Big West play begins. UC Irvine will have to enjoy their home confines as they play twice to finish out September before a long road expedition.
ROAD WARRIORS: UCI goes on the road for five matches in the first three weeks of October.
The first of which will be against top-10 school and heated rival UC Santa Barbara. They will then travel to a very much-improved Cal State Fullerton squad.
UCI gets a rare home match against Cal State Northridge before heading right out for a tough road stretch against an upstart UC Riverside program, followed by the No. 3-ranked Creighton squad that has not allowed a goal yet this season before stopping by UC Davis the next week.
The Anteaters must take advantage of their home matches while they last with six of their nine October matches taking place away from home.
They have held their own to this point with a 4-1 record with their one loss coming in a tough atmosphere against a ranked Big East school.
The 'Eaters have set themselves up well for this abbreviated homestretch and UNLV.
UNLV REBELS: The Rebels have been on a Big West kick this season. UCI will be UNLV's fifth opponent out of the Big West so far in 2011 with all of them coming away from home.
The Rebels have gone 1-3 against them with losses to CSUF, Cal Poly, and UCR. Their one win came against CSUN in OT. They also have losses to San Francisco and Green Bay.
On the year, UNLV is just 1-5, but four of the losses have been by one goal. In addition, the Rebels have been shutout just once so despite the record, they have proven to be a sturdy competitor.
The Rebels have not gotten much scoring, but Salvador Bernal (2 G, 1 A) and Jonny Espinoza (2 G, 1 A, 1 GWG) have made the most impact. Keeper Ryan Harding (13 GA, 19 SV) has been in net for every match and kept UNLV in the game.
The Rebels had UCI's number through the 80's and mid-90's as a member of the Big West winning the first 15 matches between the two. The 'Eaters were able to string a draw and a pair of wins together in the late 90's, but have dropped the last two meetings which came back in 2000 and 2002 with both going into overtime.
UCI is 1-8-1 at home against UNLV all-time, They have gone 3-0 at home in 2011 while the Rebels are 1-3 on the road, all against Big West schools.
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