UPCOMING MATCHES

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters at UC Riverside Highlanders

Wednesday, October 21, 2015
7:00 PM - Riverside, Calif.
Live Stats  

UC Irvine Anteaters at CSUN Matadors

Saturday, October 24, 2015
7:00 PM - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats     Audio 

PARTY DOWN SOUTH

Big West South play began last week with the Anteaters earning a split, and fitting into third place in the division.

Wednesday night's home match was very back-and-forth with chances on each end in the first half. A 47th-minute red card to the Highlander keeper changed the dynamic of the match, and UCI finally broke through in the 84th minute has Jaime Phillips and Luis Leon came together for the winner and make it 1-0.

Saturday night at Cal State Fullerton went decidedly to the Titans winning 3-0 from goals in the 11th, 60th, and 73rd minutes further distancing CSUF from the rest in the Big West South.

The win boosted UC Irvine into the tournament picture now with four points. It stands one point ahead of UC Riverside for the last tournament spot, and a defining match at UCR on Wednesday.

The South title is nine points off with 12 possible points remaining, and the 'Eaters will need help from the rest of the division for have a shot. Second place is very much up for grabs as UCI stands three points behind CSUN still needing to play them twice. The difference between second and third is starting the Big West Tournament at home or up north on the road.

The North is just as convoluted with three schools all within a point of each other for the top spot, and the fourth-place Sacramento State Hornets lurking just four points out of a playoff spot. In its four matches, each team scored in each match for a total of 19 goals. Sac State dropped UCSB, 5-2, in a match that saw more goals (7) than in all four South Division matches combined (6).

If the season finished today, UCI would travel to UC Davis in the tournament first round with the winner playing at UCSB. The other side would see Cal Poly travelling to CSUN with the winner heading to Cal State Fullerton.

FIELD GENERALS

Senior Jaime Phillips was finally corralled Saturday night, as were the Anteaters, held without a goal or point for the first time since a road match at SMU.

"The team played well in the first half on Saturday night," Head Coach Chris Volk praised. "Lalo and Jaime connected in transition on a great chance that could have leveled the game. They both have been contributing in the last few games, but we need all of our attacking players to continue to be dangerous and mobile in the final third. An aggressive and high-pressure defending mentality will help create additional chances to score."

Phillips extended his point streak to seven straight with the goal Wednesday night, his fourth of the year. The goal was his first career game-winner, and vaulted him to the top of the squad with 13 points. One streak he still holds is contributing on each of the 'Eaters' last six goals. It's been a common theme this year as Eduardo Calzada scored four consecutive Anteater goals early this season while Gerardo Gonzalez assisted on four straight.

Friday's win also marked the third shutout for Michael Breslin and the defense joining the season-opening 1-0 win over Loyola-Chicago and a scoreless draw with San Diego State.

Breslin remains second in program history with 26 shutouts, three from all-time leader Andrew Fontein's 29. His next win will be No. 40, and join him with Andrew Fontein (50) as the only keepers to reach the mark. He's also approaching the 300-save plateau reached only by two other keepers. Breslin's 63 saves on the year give him 294 at the moment.

ROAD RUNNERS

UC Irvine finishes out its road matches with local trips to UC Riverside and CSUN searching for its first win away from Anteater Stadium.

"There are many elements: opposing fans, lighting, field conditions, that factor into playing on the road. Our players must not let those things detract from their focus while playing. They must be very resilient in dealing with whatever the game and the environment provides. Our mental toughness and discipline will be key to our success playing these pivotal games away at UC Riverside and CSUN this week."

The road hasn't been friendly to Coach Volk and UCI going 0-8-1 to this point. The 'Eaters have had two winless road seasons prior; most recent in 1998 at 0-6, and an unprecedented 0-11 in 1995. The program has managed one road win in 10 seasons, and just twice since the turn of the century notably 2003 (1-5-2) and most recently in 2007 (1-5-1).

The flip side has seen five one-loss road seasons with 2010 (5-1-2) being the most recent of those. UCI has had considerable success in its five NCAA Tournament seasons winning a minimum of six matches in each including a program-best 9-1 mark in road matches during the 2009 campaign. The 2008 Anteaters were the lone squad to finish the regular season perfect going 6-0-3 on the road with its lone loss coming at St. John's in the NCAAs.

The road diverts to Riverside this week with a Wednesday night match. This series has seen a sweep in six of the last seven seasons save for 2011 when the clubs split and met again in the Big West Tournament. UCI has led four of those sweeps and will look for another this week. All-time, UCI holds a 16-9-3 advantage, and are 8-5-1 at UC Riverside.

Last week's match saw the 'Eaters outshoot UCR, 20-10, helped along by the Highlanders playing with 10 men for nearly half the match. UCR did all it could to help Vincent Morales out in net on Saturday against CSUN at home outshooting them 15-4, but the lone CSUN shot on goal went in and helped them to a 1-0 victory. Their losing has now hit four straight with just one goal to show for in that time.

Last year's meeting at Riverside stood scoreless until the 79th minute when UCR broke the tie. UCI leveled the next minute on a PK. The Highlanders got the last laugh with an 89th-minute PK for the 2-1 win in a match that featured 37 fouls and four cards.

Saturday's match will feature a trip to CSUN against the second place Matadors who are 2-3-1 in conference, 6-6-2 overall. Big West results have seen wins at Sac State and CSUN and a draw at UC Davis. Non-conference ended well with three wins over Saint Mary's, Santa Clara, and USD. CSUN mirrored UCI's first three matches winning at home vs. Loyola-Chicago and following that up with losses at Creighton and Omaha.

This meeting will be the 46th between the schools with UCI going 19-21-5 against them. CSUN took both matches in 2014 winning 3-0 and 2-0 which broke up a four-match win streak in the series for UCI.

Senior Carlos Gonzalez propels the offense with five goals and three game-winners to lead the squad. He's also put two-thirds of his shots on target. Sophomore Steven Manios is the shooter leading the squad with 22. Sophomore Dean Wright (2 G, 4 A) and senior David Turcios (3 G, 1 A) have also contributed.

The Matadors have seen 15 players appear in at least 13 matches and 12 of them play in all 14. Senior keeper Adam Hobbs is one of them stopping 61 shots in net with 31 coming in Big West play.

CSUN falls well short of the rest of the conference in shots with just over eight per match, and less than that in conference matches, but they definitely make their shots count. The Matadors and Anteaters sit near the bottom with 16 goals apiece in 2015, while CSUN posts up near the bottom when it comes to corner kicks, fouls, and cautions.