UPCOMING MATCHES

Game Notes

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at UC Irvine Anteaters

Thursday, October 1, 2015
7:00 PM - Anteater Stadium
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Cal Poly Mustangs at UC Irvine Anteaters

Saturday, October 3, 2015
7:00 PM - Anteater Stadium
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NET GAINS

The Anteaters split the weekend winning 4-1 at home against LMU before falling in overtime at UCLA, 4-3.

UCI increased its record to 2-0 over Loyola schools this season having defeated LMU and Loyola-Chicago. The four-goal effort was just the second time the for the Anteaters in the last four seasons with a 4-2 win at UNLV last year. It's the first time they've buried four in front of the home crowd since 2011 against UNLV.

The Anteater offense flowed on into Sunday with three more goals in match that saw six goals in the second half alone.

"I am pleased with the attacking mentality the players have embraced in our last two games," lauded Head Coach Chris Volk. "They have a better understanding of their roles and how their dynamic movement complements each other in our build up to goal. We must continue to execute when those opportunities are created. There is a lot of quality and ability to score goals. The players must remain committed to achieving team results."

The 12 total goals in consecutive matches are the first for the program since 2010, third time in the last 20 years, and 13th time in program history. The all-time high came in the inaugural season when back-to-back matches saw UCI win 5-3, again against LMU, and 7-2, at Cal Lutheran.

The 'Eaters got seven goals over the span of two matches for the first time since 2011 when it happened on their road trip to Wisconsin and Illinois-Chicago, and again in conference play against CSUN and Cal Poly.

FIRST OFFENDERS

UCI got a lot of firsts among its offensive explosion of a weekend. Nine of the 10 goals on the season have come in the second half with five of those landing in the 60-75 minute window.

Luis Leon got his first career goal Thursday night in the win over LMU, and followed that up with his first career game-winner minutes later to complete his first career two-goal match.

On board for the game-winner was senior transfer Jaime Phillips with his first assist and point on the DI level. He got his first goal as an Anteater later in the 68th minute, and added a goal Sunday night to be the only player to score in multiple matches thus far.

Freshman Ivan Canales got the first three assists of his career helping along the Thursday night goals. Gerardo Gonzalez added his own three-assist night on Sunday. Prior to the weekend, an Anteater had earned three assists in a match just four times in program history with the last being Anthony Hamilton in 2005. Canales and Gonzalez become the second pair of 'Eaters to do it in the same season since Jimmy Malaver and John Gunderson in 1988.

RECAP AND RESET

Non-conference play comes to a close with the focus turned toward Big West play now, but first a look at how everyone fared. The Big West is an even 31-31-7 rating it seventh in conference RPI.

The 'Eaters come in with an RPI of 85, fourth in the conference. Cal Poly sits the highest at No. 18 with UCSB at No. 19 and CSUN No. 30. The 'Eaters' strength of schedule is, however, rated 19th, second in the conference behind UCSB at No. 15.

UCI and CSUN each lost to the highest-rated opponent among Big West schedules in No. 5 Creighton. UCSB fell to No. 6 Akron while drawing with No. 7 Denver. The best result of the early going was a win over No. 16 Seattle by Cal Poly.

UC Riverside fell to a No. 13 Syracuse, then turned around to drop No. 64 UCLA. CSUF upended No. 36 Santa Clara, but fell to No. 101 Ohio State as one of the four conference losses to programs rated lower than 100: UCI loss to No. 108 Oral Roberts, Sac State and UC Davis losses to No. 169 SJSU.

UC Davis is the lowest rated at No. 155 with the entirety of their four wins coming against squads rated lower than No. 100. The remainder of the Big West is rated No. 91 (CSUF), No. 132 (UC Riverside), and No. 147 (Sacramento State).

The Central Coast invades Anteater Stadium this week with UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly.

The Gauchos 2014 season ended at the hands of the Anteaters in the Big West Tournament semifinal with a 3-2 win in Santa Barbara. The Gauchos took the regular season tussle, 1-0. UCSB went 10-7-3, and are already 5-3-1 this season after recently downing UCLA and San Diego with four-goal efforts. This will be the 52nd meeting between the schools, briefly supplanting them atop the all-time totals above CSUF. UCI has won 17 times, eight times in 24 matches at Anteater Stadium with the last four home matches all finishing in the second overtime period.

Nick DePuy paces the Gauchos with seven goals and three game-winners to this point. He's flanked by sophomore Ahinga Selemani and Geoffrey Acheampong who are each scoring threats along with many others. The defensive stalwarts are Sam Strong and Duncan Backus. Junior standout Ismaila Jome has been hindered by injuries, but could see a return to the backline on Thursday.

Freshman keeper, and son of head coach Tim vom Steeg, Justin vom Steeg has taken the reins in net allowing seven goals in his seven matches posting five wins and three shutouts.

Cal Poly will come in Saturday night following a match at CSUN and holding a 5-2-1 record. Good wins over UNLV and Seattle have set them up well entering Big West play. The Mustangs are charging hard after missing the Big West Tournament altogether with an 8-7-4 mark. This is the 37th meeting between the programs, the 'Eaters having won 16 of the matches and 10 of the 18 home tilts. The squads have drawn eight times between them including last year's 1-1 final in San Luis Obispo.

The usual suspects in seniors Matt LaGrassa (3 G), Chase Minter (2 G, 2 A), and junior Justin Dhillon (1 G, 1 A) are on scoring scene this season with sophomore Kaba Alkebulan adding his touch with a pair of goals, both game-winners.

Dhillon remains a big proponent on the backline along with fellow junior Ruben Duran, senior Kip Colvey, and freshman Noah Chapleski. Wade Hamilton returns to the net for his senior season working a 0.97 goals-against-average in to his five wins and three shutouts so far.

Volk has his squad organized for the journey. "Our players know that they must approach each game with a competitive spirit and collective confidence. We need all of our players to step up and lead in the most critical moments of every game. The month of October will be a battle for everyone."

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