Hungry 'Eaters Feast in NCAA First Round Victory
November 20, 2014 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- The 'Eaters returned to their goal-scoring ways with a 3-0 win to open the NCAA Tournament against the UNLV Rebels Thursday night in Anteater Stadium.
UC Irvine (15-5-3, 4-5-1) made a mark early from the dynamic duo of Mats Bjurman and Cameron Iwasa. Bjurman's feed hit Iwasa who fired on goal and trickled by Rebel keeper Ryan Harding and in to make it 1-0 in the seventh minute.
The duo struck another cord in the 36th minute. Bjurman collected a ball at midfield and punted it forward to a striding Iwasa who shoveled a second ball past Harding on a 1v1 situation to extend the advantage to 2-0.
The squads entered the half even on the shot chart with five apiece, and each had three on target, however UCI held the 2-0 lead and its keeper, Michael Breslin, made three saves.
He was called on once in the second half, however, UNLV (14-5-3, 7-2-1) had its chances. Bradley Kamdem had a shot deflect on its way to the net that Breslin had to use the post for assistance to keep his net clear.
The Rebels used some long-range set pieces to force the issue, but the 'Eater defense matched them and even produced more offensive charges.
Golden chances from Andy Mendoza were snuffed out, and Iwasa even had another goal pushed aside by a sprawling Harding before the 'Eaters dropped the dagger in the 76th minute.
Gor Kirakosyan curled a corner kick right into the six-yard box onto Dennis Martinez who was left unmarked to head the third and final tally in and secure the 3-0 win.
Iwasa scored his first brace of the season, the third of his career. The seventh-minute goal was just the second UCI has put away in the first 15 minutes of a match this season, and Iwasa was on the scene the first time with a fifth-minute goal against LMU. Surprisingly, it was the first game-winner for Iwasa this season which moves him into a tie with Amani Walker and Kevin Smith for fourth-most all-time.
Iwasa's goals were Nos. 21 and 22 of his career and Nos. 5 and 6 in his postseason career tying Irving Garcia. In his program-record 11th postseason match, he joins Garcia as the only 'Eaters to put up two-goal matches.
The final goal from Martinez was his sixth of the season, second all-time in the postseason, and first in an NCAA Tournament match.
Head Coach Chris Volk praised the play of the upperclassmen, "we have high expectations for all our players. It's even sweeter when a senior can contribute in a big game."
Included was junior Mats Bjurman whose pair of assists gave him five on the year while another senior in Gor Kirakosyan set himself above the rest of the squad with his sixth.
Breslin in goal stopped four shots giving him 86 on the year, good enough to jump into the single-season top-10 passing the likes of Andrew Fontein and Mike Gartlan. His ninth shutout leaves him one behind his total from last year while his record mirrors it at 15-5-3.
The 'Eaters' will meet the No. 6 national seed in Stanford next. UCI and the Cardinal met up in the second round in 2009 in Anteater Stadium where Stanford claimed the 1-0 victory. This installment will take place in Palo Alto, Calif. on Sunday, Nov. 23, and will be featured on the Pac-12 Network with a 5:00 p.m. start.
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