'Eaters at CSUN in Final Big West Road Match

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters (9-4-4, 4-1-1)
at CSUN Matadors (7-4-5, 3-1-1)
Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 7:00 PM
Matador Soccer Field - Northridge, Calif.
Video | Live Stats | Audio

Series: CSUN leads, 9-7-4 - 2016 meeting: Oct. 16 at home - L, 1-0

FIRST TOUCHES
9 - Noel Baham is leading the Big West with 9 points in Big West matches. Right behind her in second is Sydney Carr with six of
her 11 points coming in Big West play

1,609 - Sophomore keeper Maddie Newsom is third in the nation with 1,606 minutes played among keepers, but the team's minutes leader is Aleah Kelley at center back who has put in 1,609 minutes this year after missing the entire 2016 campaign with an injury

70% - Since the conference went to nine programs in 2013, schools that have earned 10 or more points have made the Big West Tournament 70% of the time (16 of 23). No school has missed the tournament when earning 12 or more points

LAST WEEK RECAP
UCI dropped its first conference to start the week, but rebounded nicely to keep its spot atop the Big West Conference.

Thursday night, UCI and UC Davis battled on ESPN3. Andrea Mensen missed a first half penalty, and Mandy McKeegan did as well for UCD in the 89th minute, but she pounced on the rebound to seal the 1-0 victory for the streaking Aggies.

UCI had a complete effort to earn a win Sunday over UC Riverside. Grayson Galbraith and Noel Baham scored in consecutive minutes and assists from Shelby Lee in the 18th and 19th minutes en route to a 2-0 Anteater victory.

BIG WEST BUMPER CARS
UCI is winding down with the regular season with just two matches over the final two weeks heading to CSUN this week while the rest of the conference catches up.

UCI heads to the reigning Big West regular season champions in CSUN in its lone match this week. The Matadors have taken the matchup in each of the last two seasons and hold a slight edge overall (9-7-4) and the teams are an even 2-2-1 in Northridge under Juniper's command. CSUN is in the top 4 as the week begins earning 10 points in five Big West matches. CSUN is well-tested with its four losses to San Diego, Washington State, Texas Tech, and CSF. It's also picked up draws against ranked LBSU and Colorado squads, and has been formidable at home going 4-1-3. Marissa Favela (5 G, 2 A) and Cynthia Sanchez (4 G, 1 A) guide the offense followed by 11 others that have registered a point. Jovani McCaskill is a presence in net as well stopping 55 shots and producing five shutouts. As a team, they fall a little on the high side with 20 cards, but 3.8 corners and 8.8 fouls are among the lowest in the Big West Conference.

The rest of the regular season will be a light load for the 'Eaters who have played at least one more match than the rest of the conference. Despite standing three points clear in first place from the rest of the conference, there is far too much soccer to be played for any conference titles to be clinched. Even with wins in each of the final two matches, the 'Eaters will still need to keep on eye on UC Davis who can take the title with wins in at least three of its final four matches. Hawai'i and Cal Poly are the only programs that are out of title contention sitting 10 points back with nine possible points on the schedule. LBSU and UCSB are each still alive, but would need to win out and have results fall perfectly.

TOURNAMENT TURMOIL
The big question, first-and-foremost, is can the 'Eaters at least clinch a Big West Tournament spot this week. The answer is: Yes, but not on Thursday. Even with a win and a full three points at CSUN, there are still a couple of paths that could end in UCI on the outside looking into the tournament, but three points would go a long way to earning a berth.

In addition to a win Thursday, here is what the 'Eaters would need other Big West programs this week to ensure a tournament berth by Sunday:

Cal State Fullerton - 2 losses, 2 ties, or 1 loss and 1 tie vs. CP and UCSB
UC Riverside - loss Sunday vs. Long Beach State
CSUN - loss or tie Sunday vs. UC Davis

Should UCI draw on Thursday, the only way it could clinch a berth this week would be from losses to Cal Poly and UCSB by Cal State Fullerton.

THROW-INS
+ Kiana Palacios ranks 6th all-time with 61 points, one behind Kim Cusimano. Her 24 career goals are tied for fourth-most with Shawna Berke and Tanya Taylor. One more game-winning goal will make her the fourth Anteater with 10 or more over her career.
+ Noel Baham will become the fourth Anteater with 20 career assists with the next one she registers. She is the active matches played leader on the squad with 75, and is three matches away from entering the all-time top 10 at 78 alongside Mar Rodriguez and Zoya Farzaneh. Andrea Mensen stands two matches behind Baham with 73.
+ Maddie Newsom tied Amee Chapman with her 22nd career win on Sunday. Her next shutout will push her past a tie for three with Chapman with each currently at 15. Her 124 career saves is 20 away from entering the top 10.
+ Six Anteaters have amassed 50 or more career matches played in Andrea Mensen, Alex Karlowitsch, Noel Baham, Lili Andino, Kiana Palacios and Grayson Galbraith. The squad's active leaders are Baham with 75 matches played and Palacios with 62 starts.
+ Kiana Palacios scored three times in the U20 CONCACAF championships finishing third and earning a spot in the U20 Women's World Cup. She added three more goals in the U20WWC in which Mexico reached the Quarterfinals of the knockout round. From there, she has earned a spot with the Mexican National Team playing in friendlies over the offseason in Canada and Sweden
+ Lili Andino has also earned some national team experience playing with the Puerto Rican national squad over the summer
+ UCI's improved to 19-48-8 against the Pac-12 Conference in their history and are 1-1-1 against them this season in addition to an exhibition draw with No. 3 USC, the reigning national champions
+ Last season was the fourth time since 2000, all under coach Juniper, that the squad scored 30 or more goals. UCI allowed less than 20 goals in a season in 2016 for the seventh time in program history and third under coach Juniper

Schedule

'Eaters at CSUN in Final Big West Road Match

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Players Mentioned

Lili Andino

Noel Baham

Sydney Carr

Grayson Galbraith

Alex Karlowitsch

Aleah Kelley

Shelby Lee

Andrea Mensen

Maddie Newsom

Kiana Palacios

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