No. 18 Anteaters Fall 2-0, Finish Second in Big West South
November 05, 2014 | Men's Soccer
IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine was blindsided on senior night Wednesday night losing, 2-0, to UC Riverside in Anteater Stadium.
The Highlanders (5-9-4, 4-3-3) took advantage of Anteater miscues starting in the 24th minute. Jack Birkenbeuel and Michael Breslin flubbed a play in the box that was taken by UCR's Tyler Miguel who flipped it over Breslin to open the scoring, 1-0.
Miguel returned in the 34th minute after a long throw-in wasn't cleared correctly and fell to Philipp Dominique who ran to the touchline and slid the ball across the face of goal to Miguel who punched it home extending the lead to 2-0.
The 'Eaters (12-5-2, 4-5-1) weren't without their opportunities. Multiple times in the first half did UCI put a solid attempt on frame and follow with a worthy rebound try only to be denied by Highlander keeper, K.C. John.
The best chance came from Eduardo Calzada who converged on a loose ball at the same time as John. The keeper smothered the shot that bounced out to Mats Bjurman. His volley was blocked by a UCR defender on the way to net before deflecting wide for one of eight corner kicks UCI earned in the half.
Each side had golden opportunities throughout the duration of the second half, but the score did not budge, and UC Riverside would claim the 2-0 victory and its first-ever Big West title.
John finished with six of the Highlanders' seven saves while Breslin denied two on his end.
UCI scored the shot advantage in each half finished with 17 to UCR's 13.
UC Irvine's season does continue after finishing second in the Big West South. The 'Eaters host the No. 3-seed from the North in Sacramento State on Saturday, Nov. 8, in Anteater Stadium at 7:00 p.m. A win will send the 'Eaters to UC Santa Barbara for the semifinals on Wednesday, Nov. 12 with the tournament final ultimately landing on Saturday, Nov. 15, at a location to be determined.
__________________________________________________________
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.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
