UPCOMING MATCHES

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters at Cal Poly Mustangs

Friday, October 23, 2015
7:00 PM - San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Live Stats     Video

UC Irvine Anteaters at UCSB Gauchos

Sunday, October 25, 2015
1:00 PM - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Live Stats     Video 

COUNTY ACCOUNTING

UC Irvine welcomed a pair of locals into Anteater Stadium earning a split against two of the programs near the top of the table.

Cal State Fullerton continued its steamroll of the Big West with a 2-1 victory. UC Irvine provided a heavy challenge nearly putting home the opening goal on a 13th-minute free kick that danced around the mouth of the goal. Alex Karlowitsch scored in the final minute to close the gap, but the Titans held the advantage through the whistle.

The only team to beat CSUF, Long Beach State, arrived late Sunday along with the ESPN3 production to televise a fantastic performance from Coach Juniper's crew. Andrea Mensen got a chance to fall in the 34th minute followed quickly by a superb Corey Tobin save to keep the advantage. Kiana Palacios scorched an emphatic second goal in the 63rd minute, and the defense held up to preserve the squad's sixth shutout for the 2-0 win.

"The team comes together a little more every day," said a reassuring Coach Juniper. "Corey and Claudia led the team through two tough games this weekend. They stepped up in a big way. Kelsey, Haley and Clarissa all continue to make an impact in any way they can. They are always talking to the younger players offering advice and inspiration."

The senior leadership rolled right along to Corey Tobin who now ranks sixth in wins, with 19, and in shutouts, tied with Alicia Miller with 12. Her save count also jumped to 110 following her eight this week. She still stands 34 away from crashing the top 10.

BLUE-GREEN SCENE

The Big West picture got a little bit cloudier over the weekend with teams switching spots throughout.

The Big West as a whole was rated 10th in the country following non-conference play with a 50-34-13 non-conference record. It was one of 12 conferences to win at least 50 matches, and its 34 losses were fifth-least in the nation. The conference found success against the Big Sky (11-1) and Mountain West (8-3-2) conferences along with spotless marks against the Summit League (5-0) and WAC (4-0). It matched up against the West Coast Conference the most going 5-12-7 in 24 matches. It also fared 2-10-2 against the Pac-12.

CSUF and CSUN had spotless weeks to spring to the top of the table. UCSB climbed into the top 4 with a pair of wins. LBSU came back down to earth with an 0-2 week. UC Davis and Cal Poly suffered setbacks to make their climb for a tournament spot even tougher.

UCI's standing still favors them with six points picked up in four matches. The 'Eaters along with UCSB and CSUN stand to make up a match from the rest of the field. More separation will be in the cards this week with many of the top four matching up with one another.

In the two years of the current Big West system, the cutoff has seemed to come at the 10-point mark. No team with 10 points or less has made the tournament while each team that's earned 11 or more points has earned one of the four spots. One safe indicator would be getting four wins. UCI has two wins to this point, where will the two additional wins come from?

One could come Friday night with its road weekend beginning in San Luis Obispo against Cal Poly. The last visit resulted in a 4-3 slugfest victory for the 'Eaters. UCI scored twice in the first 13 minutes and held that 2-0 lead into the half. Cal Poly scored 30 seconds into the second half and equalized by the 51st minute to erase the advantage. The 'Eaters reclaimed the lead later that same minute, and put home the game-winner in the 68th. The road squad has taken five of the last six matches in the series, and each of the last four matches have been decided by one goal. Cal Poly does hold the all-time edge winning 17 of the 27 matches in the series.

The Mustangs have struggled since entering conference play losing matches to UC Davis, LBSU, CSUN, and UCSB with a 7-2 road win over Hawai'i sprinkled in there. Friday's match will begin a three-match homestretch to finish the season beginning with a "Break The Record" night sure to draw a large crowd. Cal Poly was primed through non-conference with close losses to Virginia and Stanford, and five draws including three in succession with Cal, BYU, and Pepperdine.

Senior Elise Krieghoff remains a threat with five goals and twice as many shots as any other Mustang at 49. The scoring has been distributed more in 2015 with freshman Caitlyn Kreutz leading the charge with seven goals and junior Megan Abutin adding three and five assists. The defense is full of depth and led by senior keeper Alyssa Giannetti whose 83 saves lead all Big West keepers.

UCI skates over to UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, a program that has 10 wins and stormed into conference play with wins over Hawai'i, UC Davis, and Cal Poly along with a loss to LBSU. UCSB won seven of eight non-conference September matches alongside a one-goal loss to LMU. The Gauchos hold a 19-9-2 edge in the all-time series, but UCI has taken the victory in five of the last six meetings.

The ringleader is freshman Mallory Hromatko putting home seven of her 32 shots and adding four assists. Fellow freshmen Jessica Parque (4 G, 2 A) and Sydney Magnin (3 G) have made their presence felt as well complimenting juniors Sara Feder (3 G, 4 A) and Dakota Griggs (5 A).

Defenders Kate Shoemaker, Ryan Kokoska, and Sydney Fuertes have stood firm on the backline in front of the goalkeeping duo of junior Jacq Caginia (5 GA and 17 saves in 7 starts) and senior Beth Ritter (7 GA and 19 saves in 8 starts) trying to make its first Big West tournament appearance since 2009.