UPCOMING MATCHES

Exhibition
Richmond Spiders at UC Irvine Anteaters

Tuesday, August 11, 2015
11:00 AM - Anteater Stadium

Exhibition
CSUN Matadors at UC Irvine Anteaters

Friday, August 14, 2015
7:00 PM - Anteater Stadium
Live Stats

Game Notes

SEASONS GREETINGS

The 2015 season is upon us. Head Coach Scott Juniper is in his 10th season with the program and ninth as the head coach. He's sporting a career record of 91-54-18 including six winning campaigns, zero double-digit loss seasons, and double-digit wins in  five seasons with never less than seven in any.

"There's a constant evolution here, constantly trying to build off of the year before. Another straight line of development, some things are built in cycles," coach Juniper affirmed about his program. "The noise in our program now is one layer on top of another. We try to improve in every aspect of the ways we monitor, support, teach, and regenerate our players. All of those things we keep layering on. We have a lot of knowledge in the program right now, and are in a cycle where we're growing."

He and his staff are "cautiously optimistic" like any staff is entering a season brimming with a mixture of excitement in the potential they see and challenge that it takes to meld the new pieces with unit that is in place.

"We do not bring in any players that lack an excitement. They're excited because they're talented, committed, they're players that can help us. We're very specific about our recruiting and players that we can bring in to fulfill a role. Some of those players are going to be on the field immediately and our fans are going to see an immediate impact."

A few of those players are returners from last year, notably Kiana Palacios and Noel Baham, who were each held back during the pivotal stretch that opened the 2014 season, but came on strong integrating quickly.

"The stats speak for themselves. Kiana is a returner, just got back from Mexico, looking very sharp right now and enjoying her soccer. Noel has prepared very, very well, both are ready to hit the ground running as opposed to last."

PERSONNEL REPORT

The Anteaters graduated an impressive class following the 2014 season which is the challenge imposed to the staff to find the next 'Eaters to step up.

Midfielders Jenna Pellegrino and Cami Privett each put in over 70 matches with a combined 111 starts between them in their four-year runs. In addition, Alana Sooy burst onto the scene scoring All-Big West honors and led the squad with 1,797 minutes. Next in line are the senior captains, Haley O'Brien (56 matches), Clarissa Robles (51 matches), and Kelsey Texeira (28 matches) carrying the torch for the 'Eaters. Altogether, the trio has started 106 matches over their first three years.

Keeper Jenn Randazzo took back her post in net in 2014 after a phenomenal freshman campaign to stop 54 shots in her 17 matches as a senior. Senior Corey Tobin is the frontrunner to assume the reins. She played in just three matches last season, but has plenty of experience with 23 starts in her first two seasons compiling a record of 12-6-4. Competition in net includes junior transfer Maria Magaña from Fresno City College and freshman Julia Kershaw out of Chula Vista.

Laura McGrail and Bianca Frontino had become a pair of sparkplugs up top putting up 12 goals last season while McGrail dished out 23 goals in her career, sixth-most in program history, and become one of three Anteaters to have at least 10 game-winners in their career.

Picking up the slack could be Kiana Palacios who is the highest returning scorer putting away four goals last year including a three-match scoring streak. Tatyana Garrett follows closely with three goals that all came in the season's last two matches. Other contributors could be Alex Karlowitsch who recorded a goal and five assists last year as well as fellow goal creators in Robles (8 assists) and Baham (3 assists).

SPRING FLINGS

The spring season was a spirited one for the Anteaters making great strides and providing some favorable results:

The Big West Round Robin tournament pitted the 'Eaters against CSUN, Long Beach State, and UC Riverside in late February. UCI opened with a 2-0 win over CSUN behind goals from Noel Baham and Grayson Galbraith. UCI would move on to the 49ers in a match that finished in a scoreless draw. The tournament finished up with another victory over UC Riverside as Tatyana Garrett and Kiana Palacios scored and the defense wrapped up another clean sheet on a 2-0 win.

Mid-March brought USD to UCI, and a late game-winner from Tatyana Garrett helped lift the Anteaters to a 1-0 victory. Spring play bled into early April where UC Irvine traveled to scenic Pepperdine and battled the Waves to a 1-1 draw. Haley O'Brien was opportunistic and cleaned up a scrum following a free kick with a laser for the Anteater tally.

FRIENDLY FOOTBALL

UC Irvine's 2015 ride begins with a pair of exhibition matches which each have a wildly unique flair to them. The Anteaters begin with some east coast flavor in Atlantic 10 squad, Richmond. It is the second A-10 program to cross paths with UCI joining Dayton who defeated the 'Eaters on a neutral site in 2001.

UCI is 2-0-1 in recent exhibition matches. In 2011, the 'Eaters dropped Fresno State, 2-0. They got another 2-0 victory vs. Fresno State in 2013 which followed a 0-0 draw against Texas A&M. Tuesday's match will be played at 11:00 a.m. against the Spiders who finished 9-9-2 in 2014 and enter their 20th season of their program.

The Spiders spun a web of goals in 2014 finishing second in offense in the conference and in the top 20 percent in the nation. 33 of their 37 goals return to the squad including 14-goal scorer Meaghan Carrigan, now a sophomore. She had three game-winners alongside senior Ashley Riefner who put away nine of her own, and was the squad's primary penalty taker making two of the four she attempted.

Two local products will make the trip back home in seniors Darian Podmajersky and Nichola Mottram. Mottram comes from nearby Rancho Palos Verdes while Podmajersky was a classmate of 'Eater keeper, Corey Tobin, at Orange Lutheran HS. Podmajersky brought three goals and two assists to the fold in 2014.

Richmond split the goalkeeping duties down the middle last year between their seniors Katie Brennan and Emily Kelly with Kelly taking the first half of the season and Brennan completing the second half.

"Richmond and CSUN, both very competitive programs," Juniper noted. "Richmond are coming a long way from the east coast. They are someone we have never played before, we are completely unfamiliar with, and we've prepared for them with that in mind. CSUN is an opportunity for our players to step up against a conference opponent and represent UC Irvine. Two different energies about those games."

A very unique opportunity indeed with a Big West rival so early in the season. The two met late last season in a high-scoring affair as UC Irvine scored the 4-3 victory in double overtime. All-time, the programs are an even 7-7-4 against one another with UCI taking the last two matches.

CSUN returns four all-conference players in senior Taylor Hobson, keeper Jovani McCaskill, and top-scorers Lyndsey Preston and Cynthia Sanchez. The Matadors were 7-11-2 in 2014, but a 4-3-1 Big West mark earned them a spot in the Big West Tournament where they were eliminated by Cal State Fullerton in the semifinals.

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