Anteaters Break Before Big West Blitz

BIG WEST QUICK SCHED

Tickets

Oct. 4 at UC Santa Barbara 7 PM
Oct. 6 at Cal Poly 12 PM
Oct. 10 vs. UC Riverside 7 PM
Oct. 13 vs. UC Davis 1 PM
Oct. 17 vs. Long Beach State 7 PM
Oct. 24 at Hawaii 10 PM
Oct. 27 at Cal State Northridge 7 PM
Nov. 3 vs. Cal State Fullerton 2 PM


BIG WEST OUTLOOK

  • The conference returns its nine-team field playing eight matches each with the top four making the Big West Tournament that it was governed under from 2007-11.
  • From 2007-11, the benchmark that determined a team making the tournament nearly every time was 13 points. The lone year was 2009 when three schools finished with 13 and the tournament’s final spot was awarded, via tiebreaker, to UC Irvine.
  • UC Irvine played nine non-conference matches, less than all other Big West schools except Hawaii. It’s also two less than six of the nine Big West schools.
  • UCI was picked second, tied with LBSU, in the Big West Preseason Coaches poll behind favorite CSUF.
  • The ‘Eaters’ Big West road opponents currently have a combined home record of 11-5 while its home opponents are a combined 3-8-2 away from home.
  • All-time in the month of October, UCI is 109-112-33 including a .529 win percentage at home and a .444 win percentage on the road.

HEADERS

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  • Following the ‘Eaters win at BYU, their RPI jumped from 69th to 31st in the nation. UCI is currently 52nd in the nation in RPI.
  • UCI defeated sixth-ranked BYU in Provo, Utah, the highest-ranked win in program history.

EARLY RETURNS

  • Two Anteaters have been named Big West Player of the Week in 2013. Natalia Ledezma and Jordan Bruce were offensive and defensive honorees the week of Sept. 16.
  • Laura McGrail led the 2012 team with six goals. She also led all Big West players with four game-winning goals. McGrail currently leads UCI with four goals and is tied with two game-winners.
  • Freshman Sammie James scored in the 81st minute against Cal, 30 seconds into her Anteater career.

CORNERS

  • UC Irvine has made the Big West Tournament field in five of the six seasons under Head Coach Scott Juniper.
  • UCI plays 19 matches in the 2013 season: two exhibition, 9 non-conference, eight Big West, nine home, 10 road
  • The ‘Eaters’ five non-conference home games feature four NCAA tournament participants from 2012 that won a total of five tournament matches.
  • The ‘Eaters bring back six starters from the 2012 squad including preseason award-winners Natalia Ledezma, Haley O’Brien, and Corey Tobin.
  • Ledezma was named the preseason favorite for Big West Offensive Player of the Year according to collegesportsmadness.com.

IN THE BOOKS

  • Natalia Ledezma has inserted herself all along the Anteater record books. Her goal against BYU gave her 51 career points, 10th all-time in UCI history and the 10th Anteater to score 50 points.
  • Ledezma’s 18 career goals rank her 11th in program history while her 15 assists puts her all alone in seventh.
  • Jenn Randazzo ranks fourth all-time with 22 goalkeeper wins tied with Amee Chapman. She also moves to a tie for sixth with 11 career shutouts.
  • Randazzo’s eight saves against Oregon tied a career high in a single game set in 2011 vs. UC Davis. She also has four career seven-save matches.
  • The top two ranked schools UCI has beaten both came on the road (at No. 6 BYU, at No. 11 Texas A&M).
  • Anteater Stadium is closing in on its 1,000th goal scored in the history of the stadium, currently at 997 goals from UC Irvine soccer programs.

NON-CONFERENCE NOTES

  • UC Irvine’s non-conference schedule ranked as the ninth-toughest according to allwhitekit.com.
  • UCI’s non-conference opponents currently have a combined record of 43-27-11.
  • UCI finished non-conference play with a 4-1 road record. It’s the third time in the last four seasons UCI has a winning road record in non-conference play.
  • The Anteaters’ schedule includes six schools currently in the top-60 RPI: Denver (21), Washington State (22), BYU (28), Long Beach State (31), Cal (45), and Cal State Fullerton (56).
  • The ‘Eaters were 2-3 against ranked schools in 2012. They are 1-2 in 2013 with a win at No. 6 BYU and losses vs. No. 20 Cal and No. 25 Denver.
  • UCI and No. 12 Texas A&M played to a 0-0 draw in an exhibition match.

SOCCER AT THE NEXT LEVEL

  • CoCo Goodson was drafted by Sky Blue FC of the National Women’s Soccer League based in New Jersey. Sky Blue FC fell 2-0 to Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd of the Western New York Flash in the NWSL semifinals. During the season, Goodson scored one goal.
  • Rachel Wood joined club HK Kopavogur / Vikingur Reykjavik of Iceland. The club is currently ninth in the Urvalsdeild league in Iceland. Wood scored her first professional goal Aug. 13th in the 51st minute against Thor / KA.

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