Men's Soccer Hunts for Firm Footing at Sac State, UC Davis
October 06, 2015 | Men's Soccer
UPCOMING MATCHES
UC Irvine Anteaters at Sacramento State Hornets
Thursday, October 8, 2015
4:00 PM - Sacramento, Calif.
Live Stats
UC Irvine Anteaters at UC Davis Aggies
Saturday, October 10, 2015
1:00 PM - Davis, Calif.
Live Stats
MAKING A POINT
The Anteaters earned a point out of the top-rated conference squads to open Big West play losing to UCSB and drawing with Cal Poly in Anteater Stadium.
UCI jumped out to the early lead against the Gauchos scoring in the third minute before giving the lead up by the 12th minute. The remainder of the match was played evenly between the squads without any bookings until UCSB finally put the match away in the 86th minute to finish off the loss, 3-1.
Cal Poly got the jump Saturday night scoring the opening goal in the fifth minute. Much like the previous match, nothing was decided until the 86th minute when Eduardo Calzada punched home the equalizer giving him a fourth straight match with a goal and send it to overtime. A seemingly uneventful first period ended with Anteater Andy Mendoza being sent off, but the 'Eaters stemmed the tide in the second period to come away with the draw and first point of conference action, 1-1.
Calzada had both goals on the weekend giving him four on the season, and produced a four-match scoring streak for the second straight season for the Anteaters. Gor Kirakosyan did so in 2014.
The streaks had a few similarities, namely that each began with a win over LMU. For each player, three of the four goals came after halftime. The one first-half goal for each came in the third match.
Another streak that has surfaced is fellow Senior Jaime Phillips putting up a point in four straight as well. He began with his first career goal and assist in the win against LMU. He added another goal against UCLA, and now has assisted on each of Calzada's goals against UCSB and Cal Poly.
The only other four point streaks in the last three years have come from Cameron Iwasa in 2014 (2 G, 2 A) and Gor Kirakosyan who's assist prior to his four-goal streak gave him a five-match run.
NATIONAL TREASURES
Anteater Stadium has been home to another club over the last week in the U.S. Men's National Team training in preparation for their CONCACAF match against Mexico on Saturday. One of the added incentives has been the inclusion of Anteater alum Brad Evans to the roster returning to train on the same field he played on and earned All-American status and three-time Big West Player of the Year status from 2003-06.
Evans will look to make his 24th career appearance with the squad and seventh in 2015. He was instrumental in their historic wins over the Netherlands and Germany in June even providing the assist on Bobby Wood's game-winning goal in the 88th minute to defeat Germany.
NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Through the first week of action, the North Division holds the slight edge winning four games to the South's three wins despite playing all of their matches away from home. UCI and Cal Poly provided the lone draw. The Big West went an even 31-31-7 in non-conference play rating it seventh in conference RPI citing notable results as UCSB drawing with Denver, Cal Poly topping Seattle, CSUF upending Santa Clara, and UC Riverside stealing an OT win at UCLA.
Crossover play switches gears with the South squads travelling North and the Anteaters travelling to Sacramento State and UC Davis for a pair of early matches.
Sac State hosts UCI Thursday at 4:00 p.m. The 'Eaters took a pair of 2-0 decision in 2014, both at home, including a Big West Tournament First Round win. The 'Eaters last lost to the Hornets in their inaugural season in the conference (2010) falling 2-1 at home. The last loss in Sacramento came in 2010 by a score of 2-0. All-time, the 'Eaters are 9-5-2 vs. the Hornets and 3-1-1 at Sacramento.
The Hornets are 3-6-1 through the early going getting non-conference wins against Saint Mary's, Pacific, and Incarnate Word. The Pacific win came at home as did a draw with Bakersfield for its only two home contests thus far. Both squads also have 2-0 losses at SMU. Sac State dropped both matches to open Big West play travel to CSUF for a 2-0 loss and finishing with a 3-1 defeat at UC Riverside.
Freshman Brad Bumgarner has emerged with three goals, two of which are game-winners. Junior Bert Corona and sophomore Cylus Sandoval have pumped in two goals each.
The starting XI has stayed fairly consistent with the same eight players starting nine of the 10 matches including midfield crop sophomores Paul Geyer and Fernando Ochoa, and senior Cesar Mendoza joining Corona as players to start all 10. Senior Isaac Flores 13 shots has him among the team leaders.
The situation in net has been fluid between junior Philip Bru and sophomore James Del Curto. Del Curto has started the last three as well as the opener allowing nine goals in six total starts. He's collected two of the years and 20 saves. Bru has a shutout win of his own in four starts allowing eight goals while stopping 18 saves.
UC Davis enters the weekend at 5-6 and 1-1 in conference following a loss at CSUF and win at UC Riverside. The loss at CSUF ended a four-match win streak, and is one of four one-goal losses. UCI has won the last two in this series after UC Davis had built a three-match win streak from 2011-13. The overall matchup is even at 9-9-4 with UCI going 2-4-2 in Davis.
The Aggies have poured in 19 goals and five from senior Lucas Mohageg. His three assists also lead the team helping those like seniors Ryan Gross (3 G, 2 A) and Matt Wiesenfarth (2 G, 2 A), and freshman defender Roy Boateng (2 G) with their efforts.
Senior keeper Kris Schultz is 4-4 with a pair of shutouts a year after going 2-0-6. Junior Armando Quezada has made three starts as well allowing five goals and earning one win.
A few 'Eaters return to their NorCal roots including junior Thomas Janjigian (Pleasanton) and freshman Jorge Lara (Turlock). Senior Jaime Phillips will have a homecoming of sorts after playing at Oakland-based Holy Names University for his first three years.
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