IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine fell a step behind again with a 1-0 loss Wednesday night to Loyola Marymount in Anteater Stadium.
The Lions (4-3) cleaned up a rebound for the goal in the 67th minute from Matt Gooden. Sarkis Shaginian's free kick found Mark Dotseth who headed the pass along toward goal. Elliot Farmer dove for the initial save, but Gooden followed into the right spot guiding the ball back in to make it 1-0, LMU.
UCI (1-5) was not a bystander on the night hoisting up 15 shots including 11 in the second half, and turned nine of them on frame. Junior keeper Collin Partee was up to the task stopping all nine with a few remarkable plays mixed in.
Michael Sperber had a go from about 35 yards straight on twice that Partee needed to leap and tip over. The 'Eaters had a dangerous sequence in the 57th minute nearly breaking through for the opening score as Partee needed to sprawl and keep out a Randall McDermott header and then again 15 seconds later as Armon Ojuola put a shot on frame as well.
He added a couple more saves in the waning minutes to preserve the shutout and the 1-0, LMU win.
Farmer came up with three saves on his end, all in the second half. Ivan Canales led all player with four shots, and he and two other 'Eaters each had a pair of shots turn on frame. The 'Eaters also held the advantage in corner kicks, 6-5.
The loss drops UCI to 1-5 on the year, its third by a single goal. It's only the second time in program history that its dropped five of its first six games matching the 1993 squad. That squad would end up turning things around and winning its next three matches.
The Anteaters will get a chance to do that this week with an 8:00 p.m. match Saturday evening against the New Mexico Lobos.
The match is on the heels of an OC Blues FC match that begins at 5:30 p.m. Fans will be able to enter the stadium shortly after the conclusion of the first match at approximately 7:30 p.m. Keep updated on ucirvinesports.com and through the many social media channels for the team for more information regarding Saturday's match.
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