UPCOMING OPPONENTS
Game Notes
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine at UC Irvine Anteaters
Friday, October 28, 2016 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Program
UC Irvine Anteaters at Cal State Fullerton Titans
Sunday, October 30, 2016 - 2:00 PM
Titan Stadium - Fullerton, Calif.
Video | Live Stats
Broadcast Information
Video
UCI's Sunday match at Cal State Fullerton will be streamed online. The link along with any pertinent information on the team can be found at ucirvinesports.com
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SENIOR SALUTES
+ The Anteaters will honor five players playing their final home match Friday night in Anteater Stadium: Tatyana Garrett, Sammie James, Maria Magaña, McKenna Pigoni, and Kelsey Texeira
+ James has played in 59 matches starting 20 including 15 last season as a junior. She scored her first goal 40 seconds into her first match freshman year against Cal. Since then, she's added a pair, both coming this season, and both finishing as game-winners against Oregon and UC Riverside. She also put up one assist as a junior
+ Texeira has been a contributor in every season since her redshirt year in 2012 playing in at least seven matches each including starts in all 18 this season to give her 39 starts in 53 career matches. Prior to 2016, Texeira had yet to register a point, but she's collected seven this season, three on assists, and two from goals both serving as game-winners against Saint Mary's and San Jose State
+ Garrett has been a sparkplug off the bench in 35 matches scoring five times. Her first two goals came in the same match including a 109th-minute double overtime game winner over CSUN. She added a pair of goals as a junior, game-winners in consecutive matches that included a 103rd-minute double overtime winner over Nevada
+ Pigoni has been a veteran voice on the squad, and was finally rewarded for her work making her way into three matches this season, against Pittsburgh, UAB, and Idaho State, for a total of 13 minutes
+ Magaña joined the 'Eaters last season, and made her Anteater debut at the end of the Idaho State match this year playing the final seven minutes of a 3-0 shutout
LAST TIME OUT
The 'Eaters jumped out of the middle of the pack and into a tie for first place with two big home wins. Things kicked off Friday night against Cal Poly where the Mustangs struck first with a 31st minute goal and halftime lead. The Anteaters charged back with goals in the 53rd and 55th minutes to complete the comeback and 2-1 victory.
Sunday brought with it ESPN3 and some unexpected rain along with the only other 11-win team in the conference in UC Santa Barbara. Alex Karlowitsch's steal set up Noel Baham on a 19th minute goal, and key saves late from Maddie Newsom gave UCI its ninth shutout of the season dropping the Gauchos, 1-0.
SCOUTING REPORT
The 'Eaters close out the regular season Friday night honoring seniors and looking to punch a ticket to the Big West Tournament against another postseason hopeful in Hawai'i. The Rainbow Wahine stormed through non-conference play going 7-1-1, and were knocked back with losses to CP and UCSB before shutting out UCR, UCD, and LBSU. Away from the island, UH is 2-3 this season, and at seven points in the conference, are needing points to jump into the playoff picture. Raisa Strom-Okimoto (18 pts) and Addie Steiner (17 pts) have driven Hawai'i collecting 13 of their 21 goals. Monk Berger in net has played every minute stopping 72 shots behind a team that leads the Big West in shots on goal per game (6.67).
Sunday concludes the regular season at Cal State Fullerton in a match that could very well be just about tournament position. CSF has defeated Saint Mary's, SJSU, and UAB, but fell at home to Oregon. Big West play began with wins against UC Riverside and Cal Poly, but giving up a 2-0 lead at UC Davis and a 2-1 loss at UC Santa Barbara sandwiched around a home win against Long Beach State has the Titans at 11 points clinging to the final tournament spot. The Titans don't do anything exceptionally well or bad, but have been a force at home winning six matches. Sarah Fajnor has stepped forward of late with five goals to lead the way, and Tala Haddad and Nano Oronoz have delivered three as well. Jennifer Stuart has found her form in net stopping 47 shots and allowing 13 goals in 12 starts.
NOTEBOOK
Pointillism
UCI's goal to reach the Big West Tournament is simple: one point in the final two matches will clinch a berth for the Anteaters. In addition to that, any number of losses or draws between six other schools could clinch it as well. The other goal within reach is a Big West regular season title, and UCI controls its own destiny currently sitting atop the Big West searching for its first regular season title since 2011. Wins in each of the last two matches would secure at least a share of the title
300 and Won
UC Irvine's 12th win of the season on Sunday also marked the 300th win in the program's history spanning 33 seasons. The 12 wins on the season are the squad's most since earning 14 wins in 2011. For Head Coach Scott Juniper, its his sixth season with double digit wins and fourth time reaching 12 in a season. Earlier in the season, coach Juniper won his 100th career match, and the 'Eaters eight non-conference wins match the most under his direction
A World Away
Fans may have noticed the absence of Kiana Palacios last week as she headed out to Mexico to begin training for the under-20 Women's World Cup. The tournament begins November 13 and runs through the entirety of the month in the country of Papua New Guinea which will take Palacios away from the Anteaters for the remainder of the 2016 campaign
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
THROW-INS
+ In program history, the 'Eaters have allowed under 20 goals in six seasons (1990, 1998, 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
+ The 'Eaters have allowed two goals through six Big West games, the low for conference goals allowed is three from the 2010 squad. UCI has allowed six or less in four other years (1998, 2000, 2009, 2011)
+ The 'Eaters are 12-0 this season in games they score in
+ UCI has trailed at the half three times this season winning twice vs. SJSU and Cal Poly, and dropping one match vs. CSUN
+ The first team to score has won 15 of 18 Anteater matches in 2016
+ UCI has 10 goals in the 10 minutes before and after halftime
+ Lili Andino stands 44 minutes from 1,000 minutes played this season, and would be the 11th Anteater with 1,000+ this season matching the 2013 squad for the most players over the last 5 years
+ Seven Anteaters have appeared in all 18 starting lineups (Baham, Galbraith, Texeira, Karlowitsch, Mensen, Bzeih, Newsom)
+ Six Anteaters have played in 50 career matches including four juniors (Mensen, Karlowitsch, Baham, Palacios)
+ 14 Big West players have 10+ points this season, the Anteaters are the only school with four players among them (Palacios - 23, Baham - 19, Andino - 12, Galbraith - 11)
+ The Anteaters are 1 of 20 schools to have four players score multiple game-winners (Palacios, Baham, James, Texeira)
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