Defense Reigns for No. 7 UC Irvine
October 18, 2014 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- The seventh-ranked Anteaters got a little extra help from the defense Saturday night at Anteater Stadium to drop Cal State Fullerton, 1-0, in the Big West South opener.
The match's pinnacle came in the 72nd minute as Gor Kirakosyan set up for a corner kick. He whipped it into the box landing perfectly on the charging foot of defender Bryan Breslin who forced it home to break the scoreless drought and put UCI up, 1-0.
The match churned slowly at the beginning with the squads combining for just seven total shots in the entire first half. Anteater keeper Michael Breslin was tested twice including a sprawling save on Titan forward Marc Fenelus to preserve the match early.
The squads came out amped in the second half putting up nine shots total in the first 15 minutes of it including golden chances each way.
Gerardo Gonzalez corralled a chip cross, spun and fired on net, but flying into action was a Titan defender to deflect it high in the 48th minute. On the other end, the Titans earned a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box in the 53rd minute, but strikes from Ritchie Gonzalez and Julian Okai would be silenced by the wall.
UCI (11-1-2, 3-1-1) had a prime opportunity to put the match away on the heels of its goal. Eduardo Calzada had three massive chances inside the box, but a Jeff Salt-save and even more, timely defense denied the Anteaters.
The tension began to boil over late in the match between the squads. Both teams earned three yellow cards on the night, and there was bumping and jostling time and time again, but cooler heads would prevail and lead to some spirited and clinical soccer.
When all was said and done, the 'Eaters would make the most of their chances shutting out Cal State Fullerton (7-6-2, 2-3-0), 1-0, for three big points in the South division.
Breslin's strike was the third of his career with two of those now being game-winners. Kirakosyan drew level with Calzada atop the team in points with the assist, number four on the year.
Michael Breslin picked up shutout No. 5 of the season, all coming at Anteater Stadium. His four saves moved his current shutout streak to 270 minutes. He's also built an impressive 800-minute shutout streak at home dating back to last season which has come on the tail-end of the team's 11-match winning streak in Anteater Stadium.
Salt stopped a pair of shots for the Titans who did earn six corner kicks to UCI's five, but were also called for six of the 10 offsides in the match.
UC Irvine remains atop the Big West South with 10 points now from a 3-1-1 record. Overall, the 'Eaters improve to 11-1-2.
UCI treks back to the road next week for a short trip to UC Riverside on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7:00 p.m. before returning home on Saturday, Oct. 29, against Cal State Northridge.
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