Familiar Face Kicks off Big West Tournament Thursday
November 02, 2016 | Women's Soccer
BIG WEST TOURNAMENT
Big West Semifinal
(2) UC Irvine Anteaters 1 (4-2) 1 (3) Cal State Fullerton Titans
Thursday, November 3, 2016 - 7:30 PM
George Allen Field - Long Beach, Calif.
Video | Live Stats
Big West Final
(2) UC Irvine Anteaters vs. (4) Long Beach State 49ers
Sunday, November 6 - 1:00 PM
George Allen Field - Long Beach, Calif.
Prime Ticket | Live Stats
Broadcast Information
Video
The semifinal matches will be streamed online at bigwest.tv. The final will be shown live on television on FOX Prime Ticket. All links and more comprehensive information can be found at ucirvinesports.com
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+ This is the 16th Big West Tournament, 10th the Anteaters have been a part of, and the first time these four schools have been the tournament representatives
+ This is UCI's fourth Big West Tournament road match and first at Long Beach. UCI lost the previous three; twice at Fullerton which each went to overtime in 2007 and 2013, and once at Cal Poly
+ UCI has been the No. 2 seed twice: it fell in the final in 1996 and lost in the semis in 2013. UCI also finished second in 1998 and 2000, years that the Big West didn't feature a conference tournament
+ This will be the first career Big West Tournament minutes for every player on the UC Irvine roster. Two members (Kelsey Texeira, Sammie James) were a part of the 2012 Big West squad, and two more (Tatyana Garrett, McKenna Pigoni) joined them on the 2013 tournament squad, however none of the four saw the field
+ This is the first time UCI will play a neutral site match at Long Beach. All-time, the 'Eaters are an even 4-4-4 at Long Beach which includes draws in its last two matches
+ UCI was 3-0 in neutral site matches in 2016. All-time, the Anteaters are 26-14-2 in matches played at a neutral site
+ UCI has faced the same opponent twice in the same season six previous times under coach Juniper. The team is 0-2 in rematches when losing the first. The shortest time period between matches against the same team is eight days which happened in 2007 when UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton squared off in the Big West semifinal
+ UC Irvine earned seven All-Big West selections, the fifth time in the last eight season with seven or more, and the fifth time under coach Juniper with at least three First Team honorees
UCI completed the regular season with a split beginning with a 2-1 home win against Hawai'i. The win clinched a spot in the Big West Tournament for the first time since 2013. A Jessica Miclat goal 37 seconds in was joined by the game-winner from Kelsey Texeira in the 59th minute. The 'Eaters fell in the finale Sunday squandering a 1-0 halftime lead with an own goal in the 67th minute and the game-winner coming in the 96th minute.
SCOUTING REPORT
The Big West Tournament begins, and the 'Eaters rematch with Cal State Fullerton for a second consecutive week. CSF finished the regular season 8-10 with wins over Saint Mary's, SJSU, and UAB, and a loss to Oregon. After a 5-3 Big West record which saw wins over UC Riverside, Cal Poly, LBSU, Hawai'I, and the 'Eaters along with losses to UC Davis, CSUN, and UC Santa Barbara, CSF finished third in the conference, a spot they were projected to finish in the Big West preseason poll. Titans don't do anything exceptionally well or bad landing in the middle of the conference in most every category, but have been a force at home winning seven matches. The Titans have struggled away from Titan Stadium going 1-8 this season with its one win coming at Hawai'i. Sarah Fajnor has stepped forward of late with six goals including the game-winner on Sunday to lead the way, and Tala Haddad and Nano Oronoz have delivered three as well. Jennifer Stuart has found her form in net stopping 55 shots and allowing 15 goals in 14 starts.
The 'Eaters are making their 10th appearance in the Big West Tournament and first since 2013. UCI has faced Cal State Fullerton twice in previous tournaments, both in the semifinal round. UCI fell in 2OT to CSF, 2-1, back in 2007. Most recently, the squads tied in 2012 at UCI with the Titans moving on via penalty kicks. LBSU and CSUN will square off in the other semifinal. UCI and LBSU have faced off twice with the 49ers taking both matchups in tournament finals on UCI's home pitch by scores of 1-0. UCI and CSUN have yet to meet in the tournament. In the regular season, UCI and LBSU opened Big West play with a scoreless draw. CSUN defeated UCI on the road, 1-0.
Preseason Pundits
UCI was picked to finish seventh in the Big West when the preseason poll was announced, and finished the regular season in second. Under coach Juniper, UCI has been picked seventh in 2009 and ninth in 2007, and both times UCI finished fourth to earn a Big West Tournament berth
300 and Won
UC Irvine's 12th win of the season vs. UC Santa Barbara also marked the 300th win in the program's history spanning 33 seasons. The 13 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
National Noise
The Anteaters' attack is tops in the Big West scoring 1.55 goals a match, and they average 1.9 assist per match which leads the conference totaling 38 assists, 26th-most in the NCAA. The assist lead is Noel Baham whose eight rank 28th in the NCAA and to the Big West. Grayson Galbraith follows closely with seven, 66th in the nation. The defense may actually be a more formidable force ranking 22nd in the country with a 0.676 goals-against average. Maddie Newsom has played all 1,857 minutes, eighth-most in the NCAA, and she ranks 31st overall with eight shutouts and a 0.678 GAA. The 'Eaters are without the services of Kiana Palacios who stands 40th in GWG, 57th in points per match, and 61st average 0.56 goals a match having played 16 of the team's 20 matches.
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 31 goals scored are just the fourth time since 2000 that UCI has scored 30+ goals in a season, both coming under coach Juniper in 2009, 2010, and 2011
+ The 'Eaters allowed four goals in seven Big West games, the low for conference goals allowed is three from the 2010 squad. UCI has allowed six or less now in five years (1998, 2000, 2009, 2011, 2016)
+ The +17 goal differential is the team's best since a +19 in 2011, UCI has finished with a +17 or better in six seasons (2011, 2010, 2009, 1998, 1993, 1992)
+ UCI has made a +29 change in goal differential from its –12 in 2015, the only larger moves have been +44 from 1985 to 1986, and in coach Juniper's first season, 2007, when they rose +48 from 2006
+ The 'Eaters are 13-1 this season in games they score in, lone loss coming Sunday at Cal State Fullerton
+ 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 16 of 20 Anteater matches in 2016
+ UCI has 11 goals in the 10 minutes before and after halftime
+ Six Anteaters have played in 50 career matches including four juniors (Mensen, Karlowitsch, Baham, Palacios)
+ The Anteaters are 1 of 20 schools to have four players score multiple game-winners (Palacios, Baham, James, Texeira)
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