FIRST TOUCHES
1992 - UC Irvine's final week of the regular season will feature a pair of road matches. The last time this happened for the 'Eaters was to end the 1992 season with matches at San Diego State and USD

6-0-1 - Daniel Crisostomo is 4th in the nation and leading the Big West with nine assists. He's assisted on three game-winning goals this season, and the squad is 6-0-1 in matches where he's recorded an assist

8.6 - Since 2012, the 4th place team in the Big West South averaged 8.6 points
Year School Points
2012 UC Irvine 6
2013 Cal State Fullerton 10
2014 CSUN 11
2015 UC Riverside 6
2016 UC Irvine 10

LAST WEEK RECAP
The Anteaters' postseason hopes took a big hit with a pair of home losses last week.
 
The 'Eaters trailed at the half against Cal State Fullerton and fell behind 2-0 in the 58th minute before Mario Ortiz's wonderstrike brought them back, but a second odd-man rush produced the finishing blow in a 3-1 loss Wednesday night to the Titans.
 
Saturday night brought a celebration of seniors in the final home match of 2017, but the only bright spot came from a junior, Luis Leon, scoring in the 89th minute to deny a shutout in a 4-1 defeat that saw just one shot on goal from the 'Eaters and a 77th-minute red card.

COMING TO THE WIRE
The Big West South picture has become a little clearer, but the Anteaters sit in a dangerous spot just one point above the drop zone for the tournament berths.
 
Wednesday's match will be pivotal to the race as UCI and UC Riverside clash in likely a decisive match for the final tournament spot. The 'Eaters handled its business against the Highlanders two weeks back to the tune of a 4-0 victory. UCR has begun to find its stride going 2-2-1 in its last five after an 0-10 start to the season. The road is simple for the 'Eaters: win and they're in the tournament. A draw keeps them in the safe zone, but still needing more to clinch while a loss leaves them looking in from outside and needing help to reach the tournament.
 
One guarantee is the 'Eaters cannot outright win the South title or the No. 1 seed. The only scenario for a share of the title would be UCI wins at UCR and CSF, and CSUN would need to lose both matches next week giving all three squads 14 points atop the division. The tiebreakers would leave UCI as the No. 3 seed in the tournament in that situation. The 'Eaters have multiple routes to the No. 2 seed:
2 wins + 2 CSF losses
OR Win at UCR + CSF win vs. CSUN + UCI win by 3+ goals at CSF
OR Draw at UCR + CSF loss vs. CSUN + UCI win at CSF
OR Draw at UCR + CSF draw vs. CSUN + UCI win by 3+ goals at CSF
OR Loss at UCR + CSF loss vs. CSUN + UCI win by 3+ goals at CSF
 
A path to a tournament berth lies in earning more or as many points as UCR in this week. Should UCI and UCR finish the season equal in points, it would take a 4-0 shutout loss Wednesday to put UCR ahead in tiebreakers.

NATIONAL NOTORIETY
UC Irvine's offense has continued to soar and is in the conversation as one of the most prolific in the NCAA. The team's 32 goals scored ranks 10th in the nation and is powered by Giovanni Godoy's 11 goals which top the Big West and are the ninth-most nationwide. He has also worked into the Anteater record books now tied for fifth-most in a single season and creeping up on Jon Spencer (12), Ken Gunn (13), and Anthony Hamilton (13) up the ranks. His 24 points is also top-10 in the nation, and his next point will put him into the UCI top 10 for a single season. The 'Eaters are 6-1-1 in matches where he's scored in this season, and he has earned a brace in three matches, all Big West games.
 
Another major bright spot is the rate UCI has registered assists. The 38 for the club ranks fifth nationwide, and is centered around Daniel Crisostomo and Mario Ortiz. The junior defensive mid has racked up nine assists putting him fifth in the NCAA in 2017, and his next will make him the fifth Anteater with 10+ in a single season. Ortiz has bolted into the picture with nine points in his last six matches, five coming as assists. He has found his touch after assisting just twice in his previous two seasons. The duo leads the charge for the 'Eaters who average 1.88 goals, 2.24 assists, 6.0 points, 14.65 shots, and 5.41 shots on goal per match, all tops in the conference.

THROW-INS
+ UCI has seen crowds of 1,064 (USF) and 1,067 (Cal Poly) this season growing the total to 16 crowds of 1,000+ fans in program history. It's the third season with multiple 1,000+ crowds (2008, 2013)
+ The Anteaters were briefly ranked in non-conference play coming in at No. 23 according to TopDrawerSoccer.com, but never played a match before they fell back out of the rankings
+ Alex Waldron's PK save vs. New Mexico was the 2nd of his career. UC Irvine keepers have saved 5 of the last 9 penalty kick opportunities dating back to 2015. His six saves in the draw on Saturday set a new single-game career high for the sophomore
+ The Anteater offense has scored a goal in 21 of the last 22 matches dating back to 2016 and have scored three or more goals in five matches this season alone
+ The Big West South has a very connected coaching tree. Head Coach Yossi Raz spent nine years as an assistant coach at CSUN in addition to his time as a student-athlete for the program. Assistant Brian Lanoye spent eight years with Cal State Fullerton as an assistant coach along with a grad and undergrad assistant. Cal State Fullerton's head coach, George Kuntz, spent 19 seasons as head coach for the Anteaters and is joined by former Anteater coach and player, Carlos Aguilar, and another fellow player, Kyle Schmid. UC Riverside recently hired Chris Volk as its assistant coach after Volk spent 20 years as a coach with the UC Irvine program which included 17 years as an assistant coach and the last three years as the head coach