UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Game Notes

Cal Poly Mustangs at UC Irvine Anteaters

Friday, October 21, 2016 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Program

UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at UC Irvine Anteaters

Sunday, October 23, 2016 - 2:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
ESPN3 | Live Stats | Tickets | Program

Broadcast Information

Video     

UCI and UCSB will be broadcast on ESPN3 Sunday. The link along with any pertinent information on the team can be found at ucirvinesports.com

Live Stats              

Live stats are available for every Anteater soccer game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.

Follow Us             

Be sure to follow UCI Athletics and UCI women's soccer on all of the official social media accounts to stay up-to-date on daily news, and gameday and in-game information.

+ Six Anteaters have recently played in their 50th career match: Sammie James leads the pack with 57 career appearances, others include Alex Karlowitsch (54), Noel Baham (52), Kelsey Texeira (51), and Andrea Mensen and Kiana Palacios with 50 each

+ Palacios is the only Anteater to top the 50-start mark with exactly 50 in her career

+ The other 'Eaters that have started every match of their career are Reema Bzeih and Maddie Newsom with 16 each

+ 13 Big West players have 10 or more points this season, three from the Anteaters (Palacios - 23, Baham - 15, Andino - 11), only other school with three is UCSB

+ Eight Anteaters have appeared in all 16 starting lineups (Palacios, Baham, Galbraith, Texeira, Karlowitsch, Mensen, Bzeih, Newsom)

+ 10 Anteaters have played over 1,000 minutes surpassing the 2015 total of nine. Lili Andino is within striking distance of the 1,000-minute mark at 905

+ UCI's eight non-conference wins match the most under Juniper with the 2009 and 2010 squads

+ The most played matchups in program history are against UCSB (31) and Cal Poly (28)

+ UCI also has the most all-time defeats against the schools (19 vs. UCSB, 17 vs. CP)

+ The 'Eaters are 1-9-1 in their last 11 home matches against Cal Poly with the lone win coming in 2011 (1-0)

+ UCI has given up at least two goals to the Mustangs in each of the last four matches

+ UCI has won five straight at home vs. UC Santa Barbara. Four of the last five UCI-UCSB matches have been decided by a single goal

UCI began last week wrapping up a road stretch that began Big West play. The 'Eaters commanded the stat sheet and possession at UC Davis coming out with a 1-0 victory on a nicely-executed goal between Grayson Galbraith, Alex Karlowitsch, and Noel Baham backed by the team's eighth shutout in front of Maddie Newsom.

The 'Eaters fell back to Earth in its return home to Anteater Stadium allowing a fourth-minute goal, its first in 294 minutes of Big West play. Newsom came up big in the 54th minute stopping her first career PK to keep the match at 1-0, but CSUN locked down the defense leaving UCI with its fifth 1-0 loss of the season.

SCOUTING REPORT

UCI gets its chance at home with a pair this week starting Friday night against Cal Poly. The Mustangs are 6-8-2 including a win over Saint Mary's and draw to Portland. They sit three points behind four team in the Big West claiming a win over Hawai'i and most recently a draw to UCSB around losses to LBSU, CSUN, and Cal State Fullerton. CP has struggled away from Spanos Stadium going just 1-6-1. The Mustangs average over 13 fouls a game landing second in the nation in yellow and red cards. They've also allowed 103 shots on goal compared to the Anteaters' 51 on the season.

UC Santa Barbara was the crown jewel of the Big West coming out of non-conference play winning nine matches including eight straight to start the year. Since, its has narrow wins over Hawai'i and CSUF along with a loss to CSUN and draw at Cal Poly. The Gauchos have done a lot of their work at home however going 8-1. Junior Amanda Ball demands the spotlight scoring a Big West-leading 10 goals and helping along by four-goal efforts from sophomore Mallory Hromatko and freshman Shaelan Murison. Along with the top offense in the Big West, UCSB has allowed just 12 goals and a 0.76 GAA, 43rd in the country.

Entertaining the Masses
UC Irvine will be the site of another ESPN3 televised match this week pitting the two 10-win programs in the Big West in UCI and UCSB. The 'Eaters have provided theatrics in their ESPN3 matches in each of the last two seasons winning in double overtime in a 4-3 thriller against CSUN in 2015 which followed a 2-1 victory over UCSB in 2014 thanks to a 90th-minute dagger by Bianca Frontino. So far in 2016, UCI matches have been streamed six times with the 'Eaters going 4-2 in those contests

Weekly Wonders
The 'Eaters have taken home a couple of accolades during the 2016 season. Noel Baham kicked things off with two goals and three assists in the Fullerton Tournament to win her first Big West Offensive Player of the Week. UCI scored a second Big West Player of the Week award with a stellar defensive effort by junior Andrea Mensen earning a pair of shutouts in tough road matches at Long Beach State and UC Riverside

Milestone Momentum
Head Coach Scott Juniper and the Anteaters secured its first 10-win season since 2013 following its triumph at UC Davis. The 'Eaters' won eight non-conference games to match the most under coach Juniper. Should the 'Eaters win two of the final four matches down the stretch, it would give the program 300 over its history. Earlier in the season, coach Juniper won his 100th career match, he's raised his career record to 108-70-20

Think Pink
The Anteaters and Gauchos will play a "Think Pink" match on Sunday. The teams will show their support and promote awareness by wearing pink and playing with pink soccer balls. Fans are encouraged to wear pink, and bracelets will be available at each game for a minimum donation of $1 with all proceeds going to the UC Irvine Breast Health Center

THROW-INS

+ The 'Eaters opened Big West play with three straight shutouts, a stretch of 294 minutes, for the second time under coach Juniper matching the 2010 squad

+ That 2010 squad along with the 1998 team are the only other years joining 2016 where the defense has allowed one goal through four Big West matches

+ The 10 goals allowed are the lowest through 16 matches under Juniper. All-time, it's the second season allowing 10 goals or less through 16 matches joining the 2003 season when the program allowed nine goals

+ The single-season low under Juniper is 16 goals allowed (2007)

+ In program history, the 'Eaters have allowed under 20 goals in six seasons (1990, 1994, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010) with the low coming in 1998 of 14 goals. The low for a single season under Juniper is 16 coming in his first season, 2007

+ Under coach Juniper, the Anteaters are now 4-4-2 in Big West openers, 5-5 in home openers, and 3-4-3 in road openers

+ The 'Eaters are 10-0 this season in games they score in

+ UCI has trailed at the half twice this season; once vs San Jose State resulting in a 2-1 OT win, and again Sunday in the 1-0 loss to CSUN

+ The first team to score has won 14 of 16 Anteater matches in 2016

+ The team has put home multiple goals in the 46th, 72nd, and 88th minutes

+ UCI has eight goals in the 10 minutes before and after halftime

+ UCI's all-time single game saves record came against UCSB in 1998 when Janice Taft stopped 27 shots. The last Anteater keeper with 10+ saves in a match was Erica Quevedo stopping 14 shots on Oct. 12, 2008 in a scoreless draw against Long Beach State