Women's Soccer Closes Season at Hawai'i, vs. UC Davis
October 28, 2015 | Women's Soccer
UPCOMING MATCHES
UC Irvine Anteaters at Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine
Thursday, October 29, 2015
10:00 PM - Manoa, Hawai'i
Live Stats Video
UC Davis Aggies at UC Irvine Anteaters
Sunday, November 1, 2015
2:00 PM - Anteater Stadium
Live Stats Game Program
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'
The stagnant Anteater offense left the weekend with a sour taste following a pair of shutout losses at Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.
The weekend started off marvelously against Cal Poly as the Mustangs earned a penalty kick in the 14th minute only to see senior keeper Corey Tobin deny them and set the tone early. CP returned into the offensive third earning a free kick outside of the box that snuck by Tobin in the 30th minute. The Mustang offense continued its direct style, and added a goal off a deflection to ultimately down the 'Eaters, 2-0.
Sunday's match brought new life, and after an even first half, UC Irvine asserted themselves after the halftime whistle dominating possession, but the Gauchos and freshman standout Mallory Hromatko dashed their efforts with a long dart from the top of the box in the 88th minute to snatch the lead. Tobin rose to the occasion once again coming forward into the box for a corner kick in the final minute and getting a head on it, but her attempt was corralled by the Gaucho keeper thus ending the match, 1-0 to UCSB.
The results dropped UCI to 2-4 in the Big West, but were still alive with the rest of the day's matches to come. Needing some combination of a CSUN or Hawai'i win, the 'Eaters could live to fight another day. CSUN fumbled a goal late to fall to Cal State Fullerton while Hawai'i, who took a 12th-minute lead, had fallen down 2-1 by the half. A late equalizer breathed life into the Anteater season, but it was all washed away with a winner in the 90th minute eliminating UC Irvine from the tournament.
With CSUN and UCR still to face each, one will undoubtedly finish with a minimum of 13 points, a mark the 'Eaters cannot reach with six points to their name and six points left to acquire.
SENIOR SALUTE
The 'Eaters' farewell tour for its six seniors runs through Hawai'i before returning home Sunday against UC Davis.
All six seniors have been instrumental in this season and the last four bringing a record of 33-34-8 into the week searching to finish on a positive note and perhaps a winning record.
Much of that has been in front of Corey Tobin who enters the week at 19-17-5 all-time with nine shutouts. She's started 42 of the 43 matches she's been in collecting 117 saves.
The defensive duo of Clarissa Robles and Haley O'Brien have been fixtures since their freshmen seasons. Robles has played in 66 matches starting 50 in various alignments while O'Brien has held firm on the backline starting 66 of 68 matches played.
O'Brien has made her stats count putting home a pair of goals and assisting on a third. Robles has yet to find the net, but has assisted on 11 goals including eight in 2014 with a pair of two-assist performances.
Three seniors joined the program as transfers in Claudia Lopez, Jenny Konishi, and Shauna Salcido.
Lopez has started in 28 of 29 matches she's appeared in commanding the midfield. She got her first goal a few weeks back as the game-winner over UC Riverside and has two assists to her name as well.
Konishi has been a sparkplug off the bench appearing in 27 matches and starting three. He had a highlight-reel goal that went down as the game-winner vs. Idaho State while also assisting on two.
Salcido has appeared in five matches for the 'Eaters, three resulting in wins, mainly along the backline, but also anywhere she's needed including as a midfielder and forward.
FINAL FLURRY
UCI's final weekend matches up with a pair of programs down with them near the bottom of the standings looking to finish strong in Hawai'i and UC Davis.
UCI returns to the big island for the first time since 2013, a 2-1 win. The 'Eaters got goals in the third minute from Laura McGrail and 11th minute from Bianca Frontino in a match that featured all three scores in the first 15 minutes. UH crushed UCI's postseason hopes in 2014 with a 1-0 loss.
"The trip to Hawaii is a tough one for a lot of reasons," noted Head Coach Scott Juniper. "They are a very good team and they have a ton of spirit particularly at home. We won out there last time so we will try and stick to a similar tempo this time around."
The Rainbow Wahine have wins over Denver, Bakersfield, and BYU-Hawaii as well as a draw with Wyoming. The rest have been losses, and the squad has given up 43 goals, over 2.5 per match. The only Division I opponent they've shutout is Denver. Seven opponents have scored three or more times against them including seven from Cal Poly and four from UC Davis and CSUF in conference play.
The flip side has seen UH score in 11 of its matches including against Stanford and Cal. Sophomore Dani Crawford leads the squad with three while freshman Sarah Lau put home two in the last match against LBSU. Junior Storm Kenui leads the squad with 46 shots, 23 on target, and has added three assists. Junior keeper Monk Berger has all three wins and stopped 46 shots in her 12 starts.
The final match of the season takes place at home and will celebrate the seniors against a UC Davis squad who still has a shot to reach the postseason. The Aggies will need wins in their final two matches (at LBSU, at UCI) along with a UC Riverside loss to CSUN on Thursday and a CSUN loss to UCSB on the final day leaving UCD and CSUN tied with 13 points. The tiebreaker would be Big West road goals in which each squad has one to this point.
UCD impressed in non-conference with close losses to Santa Clara and Stanford, but a loss to Nevada and draw to Pacific bucked that trend. Big West play has seen a draw to CSUN and wins over CP and UH.
Goalscorers have been junior Rachel Smith (5 G), freshman Crystal Crump (4 G, 1 A), and senior Haley Hughes (3 G, 3 A, 3 GWG). Freshman keeper Alexis Smith has started every minute of the season allowed just 12 goals (0.67 goals-against-average) and stopping 46 shots.
UCI is 3-0-2 in the last five meetings including 3-0 and 3-1 wins in the last two.
_________________________________________________________________
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.
