UC Irvine Heads to Northridge for the Big West Tournament

UPCOMING MATCHES

Game Notes

Cal State Fullerton Titans (11-5-3, 4-3-1) vs.
UC Irvine Anteaters (10-5-4, 5-2-1)
Thursday, November 2, 2017 - 5:00 PM
Matador Soccer Field - Northridge, Calif.
ESPN3 | Live Stats

Series: Cal State Fullerton leads, 13-9-5 - 2017 meeting: Oct. 29 at Irvine - W, 1-0

Big West Tournament
Thursday, November 2 & Sunday, November 5
Matador Soccer Field - Northridge, Calif.

Semifinals (ESPN3)
Thursday, November 2
(4) Cal State Fullerton vs. (1) UC Irvine - 5:00 PM
(3) UC Riverside vs. (2) CSUN - 7:30 PM

Final (FOX Sports West)
Sunday, November 5
Semifinal winners - 1:00 PM

FIRST TOUCHES
2nd - For the 2nd straight season, UCI and Cal State Fullerton matched up in the regular season finale and will now square off in the Big West Tournament's Semifinal. CSF took the season matchups, 2-1, in 2016 while UCI moved
on in the semifinal in penalty kicks, 1-1 (4-2)

9-0-0 - The 'Eaters have a record of 9-0-0 this season when entering the half with a lead. UCI has also been successful when scoring first (10-2), scoring in the second half (4-0-1), and should UCI reach the final, playing Sundays (7-1)

1997 - The 'Eaters won their only Big West Tournament in 1997 defeating Cal Poly, 3-2, with a goal in the 146th minute. UCI has reached the final four other times losing to Cal Poly (1996) and three times to Long Beach State (2010, 2011, 2016)

CHAMPIONSHIP RECAP
Lili Andino scored in the 30th minute and Maddie Newsom stopped five shots for the team's 10th shutout of the season defeating CSF, 1-0. UC Irvine's win on Sunday secured the program's third Big West regular season title joining the 2010 and 2011 squads. This also secures UCI as the host for the 2018 Big West Tournament.

RETURN TO THE TOURNAMENT
UC Irvine is back in the Big West Tournament for a second straight season, and once again it will face Cal State Fullerton in the semifinal.

This is the 11th tournament appearance for the 'Eaters in the 17th installment of the tournament. The 2016 Anteaters lost in the regular season finale to the Titans only to advance to the final against the Titans just five days later thanks to a penalty kick shootout following a 1-1 draw. The 2017 Anteaters took the regular season finale to earn the No. 1 seed in the tournament that will be held in Northridge, Calif. at Matador Soccer Field

Cal State Fullerton is in the tournament for a sixth straight season. They've won it six times, most of any school, including a stretch of three straight titles from 2012-14. All-time, CSF has advanced through the semifinals seven times including twice against the Anteaters.

UCI and CSF have met three times in the Big West Tournament, and each edition has needed overtime to decide it. Cal State Fullerton won, 2-1, in 2OT back in 2007. The teams drew in 2012 with the Titans advancing on PKs. Last year, PKs were needed again as UCI prevailed in Long Beach, the only time this matchup has happened on a neutral site.

The other side of the bracket pits host CSUN against UC Riverside. CSUN returns to the tournament for the second straight season and eighth time overall. UC Riverside makes its fifth appearance and first since 2015. CSUN won the regular season matchup 1-0 in Riverside. UCR has never won a Big West title. CSUN has reached the final just once in seven tries and it accounted for its only title back in 2012. UCI fell at CSUN, 1-0, two weeks ago, but the two sides have never met in the tournament. The 'Eaters' match vs. UC Riverside came at home with a resounding 3-0 victory. The one tournament meeting between them came in 2013 when UCR knocked UCI out in the semifinals with an overtime goal.

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 77, Thursday's match will enter her into the all-time top 10 at 78 alongside Mar Rodriguez and Zoya Farzaneh.
+ Maddie Newsom passed Amee Chapman with her 23rd career win vs. CSF, and the Sunday shutout pushed her into third all-time with 16. Her 132 career saves is 12 away from entering the top 10.
+ 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
+ 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

UC Irvine Heads to Northridge for the Big West Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Lili Andino

Noel Baham

Maddie Newsom

Kiana Palacios

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