UPCOMING MATCHES
Match Notes
Stanford Invitational
No. 10 UC Irvine Anteaters vs. No. 8 UC Davis Aggies
Sat. Feb. 6, 2016 / 12:15 PM
Stanford, Calif.
No. 10 UC Irvine Anteaters vs. No. 5 Cal Golden Bears
Sat. Feb. 6, 2016 / 5:45 PM
Stanford, Calif.
No. 10 UC Irvine Anteaters vs. No. 12 Pacific Tigers
Sat. Feb. 7, 2016 / 9:10 AM
Stanford, Calif.
Live Stats
No. 10 UC Irvine Anteaters vs. Stanford / Michigan / SJSU / LMU
Sat. Feb. 7, 2016 / 1:30 or 2:45 PM
Stanford, Calif.
CHOPPY WATERS
Not the brightest beginning to the season UC Irvine had pictured after a split at the UCSB Gaucho Invite to open 2016.
The 'Eaters struggled out of the gate falling behind 5-1 at the half to No. 8 San Jose State, and ultimately managing just two more goals in the 6-3 loss, the first against the Spartans since 2010.
The afternoon session proved to be better as the Anteaters cruised past Azusa Pacific, 15-10, after jumping out to leads of 5-0 after one period and a nine-goal advantage entering the fourth in the first-ever meeting between the squads.
"The team was certainly better in the second game than we were in the first," Head Coach Dan Klatt stated. "We were able to complete our possessions on the offensive end and separate ourselves early. We showed a lot of offensive potential in the first game against San Jose State, but we lacked the ability to finish our plays and turn them into goals."
Annika Nelson played six of eight periods stopping 15 shots and allowed nine goals. Nelson's 11 saves against San Jose State were the second-most in her career behind the 12 she snagged as a freshman vs. Cal Baptist. Eight more saves will put her at the century mark for her career, the ninth Anteater goalie to do so.
Senior Hanna Lancaster paced the team in goals with three, all coming in the Azusa Pacific match. Five other Anteaters finished the weekend with multiple goals.
"There is no substitute for experience," Klatt noted. "We have many players seeing their first big-time minutes of their careers. We have good players, but we learned that there are a lot of good players and teams around the NCAA. In order to compete at a high level, we have to match their skill and intelligence. In order to do this. the team needs time together."
First career goals were netted by Raegan Castillo, Keana Eldridge, and Jolene Viramontes. Castillo and Eldridge each had two-goal matches along with Kelli Baumgardner, the first of the career for all three players.
PRESEASON PRODUCTION
The 'Eaters got things going in the fall taking on some stout competition at the U.S. Collegiate Cup in Irvine in November.
The tournament started off with a rousing 8-4 win over the U.S. junior national team helped along by a four-goal third period to separate the sides.
UCI fell in a close 6-5 match to Cal later that day charging late to nearly send the match to overtime. Both matches featured hat tricks from Mary Brooks.
Sunday's play began with an even match between Arizona State, but the 'Eaters dashing down the stretch for four fourth-period goals to win 10-7 powered by three goals from freshmen.
UC Irvine swiped the finale with a 5-4 win over Michigan. Gabby Pierandozzi muscled home the only goal of the second half for the game-winner coupled with an 11-save performance from Annika Nelson to help the Anteaters finish fourth for the tournament.
The weekend finished with eight goals from Brooks and multiple goals from five other players. Emily Carlson led the way with three assists while Hanna Lancaster had a pair making her the only player with multiple goals and assists.
SIGHTS ON STANFORD
UC Irvine's first big tournament come this weekend with a two-day trip to Stanford for their annual invitational.
"The first weekend of games showed us what we needed to improve, and the extra week gave us time to commit to those areas in training. The team wasn't satisfied with the results of our games in the first week, and their commitment to effort and focus was at a high level throughout the two-week segment. The ladies of our program have belief, but we must combine that belief with action over the next several weekends."
A big-time Big West matchup starts the weekend with No. 8 UC Davis. The Aggies surprised UCI with a 6-5 upset win on senior day last season. The 2015 Aggies held their own with a 19-14 record that included wins over SDSU, LMU, CSUN, and an overtime loss to Hawai'i.
The 2016 season has begun with wins over Cal State Monterey Bay, Bakersfield, and No. 10 Pacific. The lone defeat was a five-goal loss to No. 1 Stanford.
UCD is led by their core of senior Hailey Wright, and juniors Hannah Harvey and Bryn Lutz. Harvey leads the squad with nine goals followed by eight from senior Allyson Hansen and junior Carla Tocchini. Lutz's five assists lead the way, and Wright has draw seven exclusions.
Senior Haley Cameron has commandeered the cage starting three matches and stopping 36 shots while allowed 20 goals.
The Saturday afternoon tilt features No. 5 Cal who suffered a big setback losing 10-9 to Hawai'i. They've been successful in their other seven matches that include four-goal wins over Pacific and Bakersfield and a one-goal squeaker over UC Santa Barbara.
UCI and Cal battled in the NCAA Tournament in 2015 with the 'Eaters nearly taking them down falling, 6-5, in the opening match. The Golden Bears finished fourth in the tournament.
Cal has four 10-goal scorers through the opening eight matches in sophomore Carla Carrega, junior Emily Loughlin, and seniors Pippa Saunders and Sierra Smiley. Carrega's 18 lead the bunch.
Four goalies have seen action with junior Madeline Trabucco playing 173 of the 256 minutes with 32 saves and 25 goals allowed.
UCI will be back at it bright and early on Sunday with a 9:10 a.m. match with No. 12 Pacific. The two have not met since UOP jumped from the Big West to the Golden Coast Conference following the 2013 season. UCI dropped the Tigers, 8-5, that season, and have ridden a 17-match winning streak since then dating back to 2002.
The Tigers finished 2015 at 16-10 with wins over Michigan, Indiana, LMU, and UCSB twice. The 2016 Tigers have begun 2016 at 3-5 coming up just short against UC Davis, Michigan, and overtime to UCSB.
Freshman and Canadian Kyra Christmas took the team by storm with 19 goals in the opening weekend, however was absent last weekend in Michigan. Fellow freshman Viktoria Szmodics has 17 goals for herself, and sophomore Karolina Hlavata also added 18 goals.
Keepers Alexis Hollinrake and Meghan Nee have split time in net stopping 73 shots and allowing 93 goals.
The other side of the bracket has Stanford, Michigan, San Jose State, and LMU with UC Irvine matching up with one of those squads in the tournament's finale Sunday at either 1:30 p.m. or 2:45 p.m.
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