UPCOMING OPPONENTS
Game Notes
UC Riverside Highlanders at UC Irvine Anteaters
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets
Cal State Fullerton Titans at UC Irvine Anteaters
Saturday, October 29, 2016 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Program
Broadcast Information
Live Stats
Live stats are available for every Anteater soccer game through ucirvinesports.com and the UCI Sports Front Row app.
Online
All pertinent information about the team can be found at ucirvinesports.com
Follow Us
Be sure to follow UCI Athletics and UCI men's soccer on all of the official social media accounts to stay up-to-date on daily news, and gameday and in-game information.
SENIOR SALUTES
+ The Anteaters will honor seven players playing in their last home game Saturday night in Anteater Stadium: Elliot Farmer, Noah Gaines, Thomas Janjigian, Randall McDermott, Edgardo Molina, Michael Sperber, and Matthew Tilley
+ Sperber leads all players with 76 matches played. His 72 starts currently rank ninth in program history. When all is said and done, he could finish 12th all-time in appearances. Sperber has six career points, four coming on assists, and two from his lone goal which was the game-winner in overtime to upset Stanford in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. He's been named All-Big West twice, to the All-West Region and Big West All-Freshman Team, and was a All-Big West Preseason team honoree this year.
+ Janjigian joins Sperber with 72 starts having started all 72 matches he's played in as an 'Eater. He could finish tied for sixth all-time along with Sperber and Spencer Thompson in career starts. Prior to 2016, he had six assists to lead active players. He's added four more along with his first three career goals making him the team leader with 10 points thus far. He added his first All-Big West accolade in 2015, and began 2016 on the All-Big West Preseason Team
+ Tilley has commandeered the backline starting 64 of the 71 matches he played in. He's contributed three goals, all coming on headers, including a game-winner in Big West Tournament play. Along with two assists, Tilley has garnered All-Big West honors once
+ Gaines reached 50 career appearances over the weekend starting 32 of them. He has scored once and assisted on two goals in his career as a forward, midfielder, and defender
+ McDermott will forego his final year of eligibility with the program. He got his first points this year in a game-winning goal at Cal Poly and an assist in Wednesday's match at CSF
+ Farmer took the reins in goal later in his collegiate career. He's won three matches and posted three shutouts stopping 64 shots including three or more in 14 of 21 career matches
+ Molina has played nine matches in his career posting one goal, a game-winner, as a junior
LAST TIME OUT
The 'Eaters were taken down twice last week by scores of 3-1. Wednesday night's trip to Cal State Fullerton began with a goal on the Titans' first shot. UCI got a brilliant header goal from Thomas Janjigian in the 55th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1 even after CSF missed a penalty kick. CSF added a final goal in the 83rd minute to cap off the match. Saturday night at CSUN started similarly with the Matadors scoring in the 16th minute. UCI put up some solid chances, but wouldn't score until the 84th minute to again cut a 2-0 deficit to one goal. CSUN's final blow came on a free kick in the 89th minute to complete the week.
The results for the 'Eaters coupled with two-win weeks for CSF and CSUN knocked UCI out of contention for a Big West Tournament spot, only the second time since it began in 2008.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The 'Eaters finish with two final matches at home. First up will be UC Riverside on Sunday. After bolting out to a 3-0-1 start in conference against the North, the Highlanders have dropped three straight 1-0 matches to fall into the pack of the Big West. Romario Lomeli leads the team with five goals and eight assists, and got a goal and two assists in the last meeting having a hand in all three goals. UCR ranks in the top 50 in goals and assists, but makes its bread on the defensive end behind Vincent Morales who is seventh in the nation with 84 saves and has played 1,591 minutes in net, second in the NCAA. Overall, UCR put up the least shots per game and have been unsuccessful in all four penalty kick attempts.
The regular season concludes with Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. The Titans are near the middle of the conference in most every category. They have allowed 60 shots on goal all season, lowest in the Big West, and in return, they lead the conference with 5.88 shots on goal per game. Alex Heilmann has turned in 10 goals, 12th-most in the nation, including the opener against the 'Eaters.
NOTEBOOK
Team IMPACT
On Thursday, the Anteaters invited in Julio Godoy, a 10-year-old battling with Aplastic Anemia, to participate in practice. Godoy was later fashioned with his own locker and asked to join the team. Godoy will be formally introduced as a member of the team and sign his Letter of Commitment on Tuesday at a press conference on campus, and join the 'Eaters Wednesday night at their match against UC Riverside
Think Pink
The Anteaters and Highlanders will play a "Think Pink" match on Wednesday. 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
Over Flowing
UCI has yet to reach overtime in 2016 despite eight overtime matches in 2015. UCI's first 17 matches this season have all ended in regulation. The 1993 Anteaters hold the record playing 18 matches until its first OT. The 1988 and 1989 squads were the only to play a whole season without going to OT, both lasting 19 matches
THROW-INS
+ The Anteaters' non-conference schedule has been deemed the 26th-toughest in the nation
+ The 'Eaters average 5.82 shots on goal per match, second in the Big West
+ In conference matches, UCI leads the Big West in shots per match (16.3) and corner kicks (47)
+ Giovanni Godoy ranks third in the Big West with 1.25 per match, and his 2.38 shots per match is sixth-best
+ UCI has outshot its opponents by 10 or more shots in a game three times a season in each season since 2014 after outshooting UCR and CSUN by 11 and 10 shots last week, respectively
+ Ivan Canales has eight points good for a tie for sixth in Big West matches, and his four Big West assists tie him for first. He's the only player to have a five-point match in Big West play
+ Janjigian's nine points in Big West play ties him for third-most
+ UCI earned 12 corner kicks in the Sept. 29 loss to Sacramento State, the most at home since it earned 12 on Sept. 2, 2012 vs. Detroit
+ UCI was called offside 10 times at Oregon State, the most in the last three years eclipsing the nine vs. CSUF in 2013
+ Giovanni Godoy scored his first career goal on a penalty kick vs. Portland, it was the first successful PK goal for the 'Eaters since October 22, 2014 scored by Eduardo Calzada
+ Alex Waldron's penalty kick save in the 75th minute against Oregon State marks the second PK save in the last four chances for UCI keepers - Elliot Farmer saved a PK attempt vs. CSUN in the 89th minute of their match at UC Irvine in 2015
+ Farmer and Waldron have each started at least six matches and put in over 500 minutes. The last time two keepers played as much in a season was 2009 when Andrew Fontein and Victor Chinchilla each started 11 matches and logged nearly 1,000 minutes
+ Randall McDermott assisted on the first goal of his career Wednesday night on a cross to Thomas Janjigian
_________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
