Women's Soccer Travels for Meaningful Matador Match
October 07, 2015 | Women's Soccer
UPCOMING MATCHES
UC Irvine Anteaters at CSUN Matadors
Thursday, October 8, 2015
7:00 PM - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats Video
FIRST FLIGHT
UC Irvine got a much-needed win to open Big West play with a bit of revenge served downing UC Riverside, 1-0.
"Always important to get off to a good start," boomed an extra-motivated Scott Juniper. "Equally important because 12 months ago we had the same opponent for the opening game and were on the wrong side of the result. We've been waiting 12 months to put that one right."
UCI had been troubled by a 1-0 loss at Riverside in 2014 as part of consecutive conference losses to UCR stemming from an overtime loss in the 2013 tournament.
"Really proud of the team. It's been a really tough season for all the different reasons, and they've come together at the right time against a tough opponent and put three points on the board."
The three points puts them amongst the top half through the early going joining UCSB and LBSU as squads to win their opener. UC Davis and Cal Poly are through two matches with one win to show for it including an unexpected overtime win for UCD over the Mustangs.
UCI had lost the past two Big West openers including a struggle at 0-2-1 through three matches in 2014. The boost came from a 64th-minute goal by Claudia Lopez, her first as an Anteater, lifting the 'Eaters over the top.
"Claudia Lopez is one tough, young woman. She's a fantastic soccer player. I fully expect her to be a part of the women's national team for Mexico. Her first goal was a great goal, could be many more. We've been playing her a little bit more defensively which means she hasn't seen the goal as much."
Going hand-in-hand with the offensive performance was a fifth shutout and fourth in a winning effort thanks to Corey Tobin's four saves and a tremendous team save off the goalline from a Haley O'Brien header to preserve the clean sheet.
NON-CONFERENCE NOTORIETY
The Big West is rated 10th in the country finishing with a 50-34-13 non-conference record. The Big West was one of 12 conferences to win at least 50 matches, and its 34 losses are the fifth-least in the nation.
The Big West 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.
UC Irvine has plenty to be optimistic about its early play. Five losses to teams rated in the top 100 and four to top-50 squads filled the competitive slate. UCI's best result can be seen in a one-goal loss to No. 10 Auburn which has dropped just one match this season in a schedule that's the 34th-strongest in the nation. The 'Eaters' least-fortunate result looks to be its draw with Abilene Christian, a school rated No. 231 with a 2-7-2 record.
TECHNICAL SQUAD
The Anteaters and Matadors will be live streamed online Thursday night. The link will be found on ucirvinesports.com with the action getting going at 7:00 p.m.
UC Irvine's Sunday, Oct. 18th match at home against Long Beach State will be broadcast on ESPN3 as one of four live streamed matches featuring Big West women's soccer.
SEEING RED
The conference slate pushes on with a short road trip to Northridge to take on CSUN Thursday night.
CSUN has struggled of late with just one win in its last five matches topped by a scoreless draw with UC Davis to open conference play. The Matadors held their own in non-conference play with an impressive win at Portland coupled with a 3-1 loss at Santa Clara and a pair of overtime losses to ranked Pepperdine and Texas Tech squads to place them at 7-5-1 to this point.
The record between UCI and CSUN is an even 7-7-4, but the Anteaters have built a five-match unbeaten streak (4-0-1) which includes a wild 4-3 win in 2014 that saw four first-half goals, a late equalizer, and a 109th-minute game-winner from Tatyana Garrett to get the victory for the Anteaters.
Another wrinkle is the fact that these two have already played each other this season. UCI and CSUN played to a scoreless draw in an exhibition.
CSUN's offense has been the key being held scoreless just twice all season which includes the most recent scoreless draw with UC Davis, and it revolves around sophomore Cynthia Sanchez with eight goals already, four game-winners, and putting 16 of her 28 shots on frame. Ten other Matadors have a goal while players like sophomore Destinney Duron, whose one goal was a game-winner off her only shot on goal, has posted four assists and three have come from junior Sylvia Trinh.
While they do lead the conference in shots, defense has been a factor as well with five shutouts to this point. Senior Cynthia Tafoya has taken over in net for 10 matches going 4-5-1 stopping 30 shots. Junior Jovani McCaskill was the go-to early in the season posting three wins and two shutouts, but has not been used since game four.
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