UPCOMING GAMES
UCSB Gaucho Invite (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Sat. 1/28 - 12:20 PM vs. #7 Arizona State
Sat. 1/28 - 4:40 PM vs. #10 Indiana
Sun. 1/29 - 10:10 AM vs. Sonoma State
Sun. 1/29 - 3:35 PM vs. #19 Cal State Northridge
There are big expectations for the 2012 Anteaters, and the opening UCSB Gaucho Invite will provide a good indication as to whether they can live up to the hype.
TIME TO SHINE: The Anteaters thrust themselves into the spotlight in 2011 earning the first bid for a Big West school to the NCAA Tournament. Right away, the 2012 season will provide challenges to see if UC Irvine is here to stay.
Day one pits the 'Eaters in Santa Barbara against a pair of top-10 programs in Arizona State and Indiana. Arizona State is always a tough draw while Indiana showed what they bring to the table by surprising the experts with a berth in the NCAA Tournament and hanging tough with UCI and UCLA. Big West foe Cal State Northridge pops up on day two for another measuring-stick test early in the season.
The 'Eaters will travel to Riverside to square off with the upstart Hartwick Hawks and Cal Baptist Lancers in the CBU Lancer Invite. UCI follows that up with the Triton Invite the next weekend. Joining the 'Eaters will be ranked schools such as LMU, San Diego State, UCSD, and Long Beach State. Arizona State follows UCI to the invite, as well. UCI's opponents are yet to be determined.
The 'Eaters take a short trip to LMU to visit the Lions, a school UCI upset last season in Irvine. The Lions will most certainly be looking for revenge. It will be a great tester going into the high-powered UCI Invitational where seven of the top eight programs and five of the six Big West schools are scheduled to play. The schedule continues to get tougher as a feature weekend in the bay pits UCI against Stanford and Cal, ranked No. 1 and 2, respectively.
The 'Eaters face off with SDSU at home mixed in with some lower-tiered programs before tackling conference play. UC Irvine will travel to two hostile territories in CSUN and UCSB to open Big West play. The 'Eaters finish the regular season off with a stout schedule. UC Davis and Pacific visit UCI with UCLA following them the next weekend. The final game pits the rivals, UCI and Long Beach State, against each other in a Thursday night primetime showdown at UCI.
The Big West Tournament will be held on the campus of UC Davis this season going from April 27th to the 29th. A win in that tournament will earn a berth to the NCAA Tournament held in San Diego this year.
WELCOME TO THE SHOW: Most of the firepower from 2011 will return to the pool for the Anteaters. Big-time scorers like Jessy Cardey (Riverside / Poly HS) and Danielle Warde (Huntington Beach / Edison HS) have another year under their belts and will be tough to keep out of the cage. Other important cogs like Katie Croghan (Yorba Linda / Rosary HS) and Hillary Estrada (Coronado / Coronado HS) will be relied on to boost the 'Eaters' play down by the two-meter line.
Some new faces will try to make a splash such as a junior transfer Annika Bergesen (West Jordan, UT / Golden West College) who will look to get into the starting lineup.
The biggest story will probably be in goal as junior keeper Kate Avetoom (Tustin / Foothill HS) and newcomer Jillian Yocum (Riverside / Poly HS) battle for cage time. Last season, the keeper position was in flux through most of the season between Avetoom, Lauren Davis, and Morgan Vickers.
ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS: The Sun Devils are primed to strike in 2012 starting out ranked seventh. After finishing 2011 in seventh in the MPSF and eighth nationally with a record of 12-14, the team completed a fairly strong overhaul of young talent.
The few returners that remain are full of experience and leadership. Senior Mariam Salloum and junior Shannon Haas are those candidates while senior defender, Kelsey White, provides the goals after leading the team last season. The rest of their roster is an array of youngsters from around the country and the world. Alongside freshmen from California, Arizona, Washington, and Illinois are others from China, Australia, and a pair from Hungary.
One part of the youth movement began last year when ASU started true freshman, Ianeta Hutchinson in net. She finished with a .450 save percentage after playing in 25 of 26 matches, but the experience, especially against the top teams in the country that reside in the MPSF, will give her an added boost this season.
All-time, UCI is 8-10 against the Sun Devils with no team winning more than two games in a row. Their last matchup was a 13-3 win for ASU in 2010.
INDIANA HOOSIERS: The stingy Hoosiers will matchup with the 'Eaters for the second time in UCI's last three matches. UCI held off the upset-minded Indiana squad in the fifth-place match of the NCAA Championship in Ann Arbor with a 12-8 victory as Indiana finished with a school-record 26 victories.
The Hoosiers lose a lot of that squad including 50% of the 2011 scoring production and senior All-American, Jakie Kohli, as she recovers from offseason surgery.
To counter the loss, the Hoosiers are bringing in 10 freshmen. Sophomore Shae Fournier, who led the team in goals, assists, steals, and field blocks will carry the Hoosiers in the stat column. Senior Hanna Eimstad and junior Kym King will man the leadership roles to help the team build on its 2011 success.
Each squad has won three times in their six meetings with the 'Eaters winning the last three. The Hoosiers went 2-1 over the weekend beating No. 12 Michigan and Colorado State while falling, 10-5, to No. 3 UCLA.
SONOMA STATE SEAWOLVES: The Seawolves are coming off a 9-28 record in 2011 in which they played over half of their matches on a neutral site. 2012 will see more home matches for them, but will face UCI in a neutral site in Santa Barbara. The Anteaters and Seawolves, however, have never faced each other.
Sonoma State won its season opener against Fresno Pacific, 9-8, in overtime in which they overcame a three-goal, fourth quarter deficit. Adrienne Bisharat keyed the offense with four goals for the Seawolves including the game-tying goal with four second left in regulation to send the match to overtime.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS: The Matadors will open their season at the Gaucho Invite closing it against the 'Eaters as the No. 19-ranked team.
Coming off a 21-16 season, CSUN loses a lot of its firepower. The 2012 roster is littered with freshmen and sophomores. Lean Janke returns as the only junior, while three seniors, Jessica Goforth, keeper Dana Harvey, and the second-leading scorer in the Big West, Heidi Pettinger with 62 goals, make up the Matador core. Melissa Doll (34 goals) and Lindsy Nelson (41 goals) provide a solid sophomore presence.
Last season, UCI was taken down to the wire in a 9-8 victory against the Matadors. CSUN was 5-2 at a neutral site in 2011.
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