FIRST TOUCHES
2-6-2 - Since the Big West went to North and South Divisions in 2012, the Anteaters Have gone 2-6-2 during the CP-UCSB weekends with all four wins and draws coming against Cal Poly

14 - UCI's streak of consecutive matches with a goal ended Thursday at 14 following a shutout at UC Davis. The 'Eaters outscored opponents 26-20 in that span with an overall record of 7-5-2. UCI is currently the only Big West school to score at least 20 goals this season

4 in 4 - Giovanni Godoy has stormed to the top of the Big West leaderboard scoring 4 goals in his last 4 games as he is now the conference's Leader with 6 goals, 13 points, and 33 shots (1 at LMU, 1 vs. USF, 2 at SAC)

LAST WEEK RECAP
UC Irvine got a rude awakening to Big West play securing just one point in the opening weekend at UC Davis and Sacramento State. The 'Eaters were shutout for the first time since last October allowing a pair of second half goals to UC Davis Thursday to fall, 2-0.
 
Saturday's contest was high-octane as UCI trailed 2-0 at the half and 3-1 with 15 minutes to go. Ivan Canales scored in the 78th minute, and Giovanni Godoy put in his second with 47 seconds to go to send the match to overtime. Despite a Sac State red card in the 83rd minute leaving the Hornets a man down in both overtime periods, UCI was unable to capitalize settling for the single point on a 3-3 draw.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Two colossal opponents come to Anteater Stadium this week as the final interdivisional matches pit UC Irvine against Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara.
 
Cal Poly comes in for an unorthodox 4:30 p.m. start. Cal Poly dropped its first four matches, three to ranked opponents, before going on a five-match win streak halted by a shutout loss to Cal State Fullerton on Saturday. Since 2012, UCI is unbeaten in four of the last five regular season matchups with no losses at home since 2011. The 'Eaters snuck a 2-0 win in last season in a match where Alex Waldron was subbed off with an injury after 60 minutes. The 2016 Mustangs have picked it up lately, but have averaged barely a goal per game scored and allowed while putting up just 9.6 shots per match. Both squads keep fouls and cards low, but CP averages five corners per match, one of the conference's best. Danish keeper Simon Boehme ranks among the top 20 nationally with 47 saves, and his offense will go through Sean Goode, Jose Rivera, Kaba Alkebulan, or Adam Olsen all with a pair of goals and an assist. Diego Alonso's contributions of four assists have been paramount in the team's success as well.
 
The always contentious match with UC Santa Barbara closes the weekend. After an 0-4-2 start, UCSB has found its way winning four straight including taking down ranked Pacific. UCSB has beaten UCI each of the last five season and has six straight regular season wins in Irvine. Rodney Michael (4 G, 3 A) and Ignacio Tellechea (4 G, 2 A) are the dynamic duo leading the offensive charge while Randy Mendoza, Adrian Adames, Kavian Kashani, and Jan Ilskens man the backline in front of Alan Carrillo whose stopped 28 shots in 10 matches. The Gauchos fall in the middle of the conference in most categories, but are called offside more than every squad besides UCI, and have earned multiple cards in eight of the last nine matches.

ABOVE AVERAGE
The Anteaters are near the top of the conference in many offensive and defensive categories as the season hits the half-way mark. UCI is the conference leader in goals (20), assists (22), points (62), shots (160), scoring margin (+5), offside calls (31), and least amount of fouls called 10 per match. They also sit in the top half of the conference when it comes to shots on goal, saves, and shutouts as well. Nationally, are the among the top 40 in most of those categories including 17th in goals, 12th in points, and ninth with 22 assists.
 
Four Anteaters consistent dot the individual leaders. Giovanni Godoy tops the conference with six goals, three game-winning goals, 13 points, and three shots per game. His three game-winners are tied for seventh-best nationally. Daniel Crisostomo is ninth nationwide with his six assists which also tops the Big West. Ivan Canales follows closely behind Godoy in GWG and goals, second in the conference and top 60 in the nation. Alex Waldron and the defense rank third in the conference in GAA while his three shutouts and 0.750 save percentage are second-best.

THROW-INS
+ UCI is looking for its first regular season win at home over UC Santa Barbara since 2006 (0-5-1). During that stretch, the 'Eaters do have two Big West Tournament wins at home against them (2008, 2011)
+ 1,064 fans saw UCI beat San Francisco, the 15th home crowd of 1,000+ in program history. It was the first such audience since the 1-0 victory over North Carolina in the 2013 NCAA Tournament
+ The Anteaters were briefly ranked prior to last week 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
+ Daniel Crisostomo leads the conference with six assists. The team is 4-0-1 in matches he's earned an assist
+ 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