MORE GOR
He did it again, swiping his second straight Big West Offensive Player of the Week award.
Gor Kirakosyan opened up the scoring in each match over the weekend for UCI to run his goal-scoring streak to four matches. His assist against Georgetown gives him a five-match point streak overall.
The award is the second of the season, third in his career. He also has been named to the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week for the second straight week, as well.
Keeping up with Kirakosyan is Eduardo Calzada. The junior-transfer has matched him with five goals, 12 points, and drove home his second game-winner of the season to trump Utah Valley in overtime.
Cameron Iwasa has kept up with Kirakosyan building a four-match point streak of his own. He has alternated for those past four matches scoring the parting blow in Friday's 4-2 win and assisting on Kirakosyan's strike to tie the match up vs. Utah Valley.
NUMBERS NEVER LIE
UC Irvine jumped again to No. 3 in the NSCAA Continental Tire College Rankings this week. It's the program's highest ranking ever surpassing last week's bump to No. 4 which overcame its No. 5 ranking in early September of 2011.
The 'Eaters are also ranked in the five other notable publications:
The Bennett Rank, which relies on statistics and calculations, continues to slowly raise UC Irvine up from No. 8 to No. 7.
College Soccer News nudged UCI up two spots to No. 4
Top Drawer Soccer's mirrored CSN for the second week in a row bumping the 'Eaters from No. 6 to No. 4.
Soccer America slid the Anteaters up to No. 11.
College Sports Madness released their preseason all-conference squads for the Big West Conference. Two Anteaters scored first team honors in seniors Cameron Iwasa and Bryan Breslin. Junior keeper Michael Breslin was named to the second team.
UCI has earned a preseason ranking four previous times from 2009-12. Its highest preseason ranking came in 2012 at No. 13 in the nation. The 2014 Anteaters were ranked No. 16 in the preseason poll.
UNCOVENTIONAL WISDOM
The Anteaters struck down a preliminary goal for the season when they completed its non-conference schedule unblemished.
UCI trekked to Las Vegas to take part in the UNLV Rebel Classic which tested the squad on and off the pitch.
The 'Eaters were delayed in their Friday night match, one that was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m., but was delayed until an 8:30 p.m. start due to lightning and inclement weather.
UCI would put on its own light show scoring four times, a season-high, in a match that featured six in all downing a previously one-loss UNLV.
The Anteaters' reward was a 10:30 a.m. match on Sunday against an upstart Utah Valley program. UC Irvine needed a game-tying goal in the 80th minute to send the match to overtime before putting it away in the 103rd minute for the 2-1 victory and keep the road trip pristine.
The run to open the season was extended to nine straight matches without a loss now at 8-0-1. It marks the second time UCI has swept through non-conference play matching the 2008 squad that went 7-0-2. The eight non-conference wins matches the 2011 squad that went 8-1-0 for the most in a single season.
That squad also holds the mark for longest unbeaten streak to start a season with 10. The 'Eaters have put together 11 unbeaten streaks of six or more matches in the program's history.
The 'Eaters have also put together their second four-match win streak of the season. UCI has had eight streaks of five or more wins in its history the longest streak being the eight-match streak the 'Eaters reached in Big West play in 2013.
The Anteaters will also finish up a stretch of nine road matches in the team's last 10 games. UCI is 6-0-1 in those matches and 3-0-0 on a neutral site.
Five MAC Hermann watch list players are featured on the Anteater schedule. Georgetown featured a pair in defender Joshua Yaro and forward Brandon Allen. LMU defender Craig Nitti also makes the list. Two Big West players make the list in UCSB midfielder Ismaila Jome and CSUN forward Sagi Lev-Ari.
MUSTANG RALLY
Cal Poly is the first stop for UC Irvine as Big West play begins on Thursday. The Mustangs have continued its roller-coaster ride from 2013 where it went 10-9-2 which included a 3-0 win at UCLA early in the season before going 3-5-2 in conference play that ended in a loss in the Big West Tournament opener to CSUN. Cal Poly lost to a tough Davidson squad and tied the top-ranked UCLA before allowing the fledgling Pacific squad to earn its first win since 1985 to finish non-conference play with a 5-2-2 record.
UCI and CP have split their last five matches each winning once at home and away while drawing at Cal Poly in 2010. Last season, the 'Eaters rolled a 2-0 victory in Anteater Stadium that featured the 1,000th career home goal in UCI soccer history.
The Mustangs are led by Matt LaGrassa's four goals and two game-winners. Chase Minter has three goals and two assists. Kip Colvey leads all Mustangs with four assists while Justin Dhillon has terrorized keepers with 28 shots and a team-leading 11 on target.
Wade Hamilton and the defense have allowed nine goals in nine matches, and allowed multiple goals in just two matches while stopping 40 shots.
Cal Poly has done most of its damage in the first half outscoring opponents 12-2, and holds the second-highest goal differential in the conference behind the 'Eaters at +7. Spanos Stadium also averages nearly 2,000 fans per match.
The Mustangs rank atop the conference with 15 shots per match while sitting in the middle of the pack earning five corners. They also commit just over 10 fouls a match and a total of nine cards, lowest in the conference, as opposed to the conference-high of 2.44 offsides per match.
GAUCHO MARKS
The final stop on the road trip is the vaunted Harder Stadium of UC Santa Barbara. All-time, the 'Eaters are 9-15 at UCSB, while the squads have split the last 10 matches with UCSB with the slight 13-12 edge in scoring. Overall, five of the last seven matches have gone two overtimes including 2013's duel that UCSB came from behind to win, 2-1, even with just 10 men on the pitch for nearly half the match.
UCSB is 4-3-1 through the early going featuring wins vs. San Diego State and Charleston along with three-goal losses to Furman and Stanford. The Gauchos were 12-6-3 in 2013 and rolled through conference play with a 7-0-3 record before falling in the NCAA Second Round to Penn State.
Newcomers Drew Murphy (2 G, 3 A, 7 Pts) and Ludwig Ahl (3 G, 0 A, 6 Pts) have paced the Gaucho scoring. MAC Hermann watch list player Ismaila Jome has a goal and two assists to his credit. Another freshman, Axel Mendez, leads the club with 24 shots and eight on target.
Brandon Berke has replaced Josh McNeely in net in the last two matches allowing one goal and stopping four shots to earn a pair of victories. McNeely had allowed 11 goals and stopped 11 shots in six games.
UCSB averages 2,640 fans per match and have yet to have a crowd under 1,000 this season. UCSB, like Cal Poly, puts up 15 shots per match to lead the conference.
The Gaucho defense has locked down, however, allowing less than 10 shots per match and 27 shots on target altogether. In turn, UCSB leads the conference committing over 15 fouls per match and drawing 20 cards in eight matches.
