Anteaters Venture to Frosty Providence in NCAA Sweet Sixteen Match
November 25, 2014 | Men's Soccer
NCAA First Round
UNLV Rebels 0-3 UC Irvine Anteaters
Recap
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NCAA Second Round
UC Irvine Anteaters 1-0 (OT) No. 6 Stanford Cardinal
Recap
Highlights
NCAA Sweet Sixteen
UC Irvine Anteaters 0-1 No. 11 Providence Friars
Recap
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THREE-POINTERS
The Anteaters are in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history and first time as an at-large representative.
UCI's previous trips have seen them as the No. 8, No. 12, No. 14, and No. 16 national seed. Thursday's 3-0 win over UNLV came in the program's first-ever first round matchup.
UCI followed that up with an impressive, 1-0, overtime defeat at Stanford, seeded sixth in the tournament. The win was UCI's first over a national seed in three tries, and registered the 'Eaters' first tournament run with multiple victories.
This will be UC Irvine's third appearance in the third round and second consecutive following a 1-0 loss at No. 3 national seed Maryland in 2013. The team fell short in its first trip to the third round in 2008 falling, 3-2, also to the No. 3 national seed in St. John's.
The win put UCI at an even 4-4 record in NCAA tourney matches. The 'Eaters also buried their first overtime goal. Its previous attempt was thwarted by Saint Mary's in the second round of the 2011 tournament falling, 2-1, in the 103rd minute.
Representing the Big West Conference, the 'Eaters' trip to the Third Round is the 11th in the conference's history with 10 coming in the last 12 seasons. UC Irvine's consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 mark the third occurrence for the Big West joining UC Santa Barbara who did it in 2003-04 and 2006-07.
97TH HEAVEN
UC Irvine and Michael Sperber shocked the soccer world by wrapping up a 1-0 victory at Stanford Sunday evening thanks to a well-timed run and finish in the 97th minute. His exploits earned him a spot on the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
The goal was Sperber's first in his career. Prior to that, he had recorded just two assists including last season's second round game-winner to help Christopher Santana knock out North Carolina, 1-0, with two seconds remaining in regulation.
On the scene once again was Cameron Iwasa who assisted on the give-and-go. He's tied for the team lead with six assists and now has 14 in his career. He's posted nine points in UC Irvine's five postseason matches, and is one match away from tying Amani Walker's all-time mark of 85 appearances. Along with his two-goal performance in the first round match, Iwasa earned a spot on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.
Michael Breslin posted his third career NCAA Tournament shutout on Sunday dropping his career postseason goals-against-average to 0.32 (3 goals allowed in 9 matches). He also tied a personal high with 10 shutouts on the season while tying Andrew Fontein for the all-time single-season wins mark with 16 set in 2008.
TAKING THE HIGH ROAD
This trip will be the farthest UC Irvine has ever gone for a match totaling 2,566 miles. The previous long was 2,442 miles which also happened to be an NCAA Third Round matchup when it visited St. John's.
Over the last four seasons, the Anteaters are 8-8-3 when they leave California including 3-0-1 this season and a win over No. 17 Louisville in 2013. When venturing to the Eastern Time Zone, UC Irvine is 3-4-1 since 2011.
Providence comes in as the No. 10 squad in the NSCAA rankings and will be UCI's fifth ranked road opponent. The 'Eaters are 4-0-1 in those matches including the overtime victory last week over the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal, UCI's first-ever defeat of a top-ranked school and an NCAA Tournament national seed.
SEASONS GREETINGS
The 'Eaters began the season unbeaten in non-conference play going 8-0-1 in a stretch that included seven matches away from home. Their unbeaten streak ran to 10 after a draw in the Big West opener, the second-longest streak in program history. Two national seeds were in that mix. UCI defeated Clemson, 2-1, on a neutral site before travelling to Georgetown where they played to a 1-1 draw. Clemson won the ACC Tournament and sits as a No. 7 national seed while Georgetown snagged a No. 8 seed.
The 'Eaters racked up three more wins against NCAA participants in non-conference play. They defeated Summit League champion and 19th-ranked Denver, 2-1, on a neutral site in early September. The 'Eaters scored a home, 1-0, overtime win over West Coast Conference champion San Diego. Also, UC Irvine's first round opponent, UNLV, fell, 4-2, to the 'Eaters before claiming the Western Athletic Conference tournament title. The Anteaters also hosted No. 15 national seed Cal in an exhibition match at Anteater Stadium that UC Irvine won, 3-1.
UC Irvine is 4-0-1 against ranked foes this year following its overtime win over Stanford who stood as the No. 1 team in the final NSCAA Continental Tire rankings for the regular season. Other wins have come in the form of No. 19 Denver, No. 24 UC Santa Barbara, and No. 25 Clemson while drawing No. 6 Georgetown. All four matches came away from home, a place where the 'Eaters are 9-3-2 and unbeaten against non-conference foes (7-0-1).
FREQUENT FRIAR
The Anteaters return to the road for another Sunday night affair in its Third Round match travelling to Rhode Island to take on the Providence Friars. The Friars and Anteaters have never met, but UCI is 2-4-1 all-time against Big East schools with all matches coming away from home including a draw at sixth-ranked Georgetown earlier this season.
The Friars earned the No. 11 national seed after claiming its first-ever Big East Tournament title despite coming in fourth place in the regular season standings. This is Providence's eighth tournament appearance, which includes four trips in the last five seasons, and first time as a national seed. It dropped Dartmouth, 3-0, in its second round match marking its fourth career NCAA Tournament win.
Providence has had some impressive wins en route to a 14-4-2 record on the year knocking off Georgetown on the road and getting a win and draw in two meetings with Xavier. Along with a season split with Creighton and overtime loss to UCI opponent, Clemson, the Friars also have glaring losses at Butler and Quinnipiac. Providence is 8-1-1 at home this year including wins in six straight in front of an average crowd of 1,156.
The top scorers for the Friars are senior Markus Naglestad and sophomore Mac Steeves who have netted nine goals each. Senior Fabio Machado also comes in with five goals, four game-winners, and seven assists while sophomore midfielder Julian Gressel has chimed in with five goals and five assists. The team averages over 14 shots per match with 38 goals on the year having been shutout just three times.
The backline has stayed consistent with seniors Rob Bialy, Brandon Adler, Thomas Ballenthin, and junior Jeff Kilday patrolling. Together with senior keeper Keasel Broome, the Friars have allowed 21 goals and 85 total shots on target. They have completed seven shutouts in 2014 .
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