No. 14 Matadors Escape UCI with 2-1 Victory
October 20, 2012 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine and Cal State Northridge played a spirited match on a cool Saturday night at Anteater Stadium as the Matadors found a way with an 80th-minute score to take the 2-1 victory from the Anteaters.
UCI (4-11-1, 1-6-0) had tied the match up in the 60th minute after a long ball by Michael Breslin was played nicely in the box by Cameron Iwasa drawing a foul resulting in a penalty kick opportunity. Junior Tarek Morad stepped up and hammered the ball home to tie the match up 1-1.
Both squads had runs throughout the end of the match which included numerous header attempts by Pavle Atanackovic that floated just high.
CSUN (11-5-0, 5-2-0) would capitalize on a free kick opportunity in the 80th minute. Chris Smith lofted a ball into the box that was tipped by Trevor Morley onto Armando Gutierrez's foot and in for the go-ahead strike.
UCI continued to put on the pressure which included an Iwasa smash just over the bar with just over 40 seconds to go.
CSUN's Sagi Lev-Ari continued his impressive scoring run this season with his 11th goal in the 10th minute heading down a Yarden Azulay cross off the pitch and keeper Breslin and in giving the Matadors the initial lead.
Breslin played very well in net stopping three shots including impressive one in the first half off a turn by Lev-Ari. Breslin got full extension to keep it out of the top left corner.
The loss drops UCI to 4-11-1 on the season and 1-6-0 in the Big West. Tarek Morad's goal was his first of the season and first career penalty kick goal.
UCI will next take a detour back into non-conference action to Kentucky for a match with the 21st-ranked Louisville Cardinals on Wednesday, October 24th. The match will begin at 7:00 p.m. local time, 4:00 p.m. here in Irvine.
_____________________________________________________________
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.
