FIRST TOUCHES
5 - UC Irvine came away with 5 points vs. the North. Here's how they've fared in past years:
Year      Pts vs. North     Finish (Pts)
2012              0                     4th (6)
2013              6                   1st (22)
2014              7                  2nd (13)
2015              1                  3rd (11)
2016              3                  4th (10)

5-0-1 - Daniel Crisostomo is 9th in the nation and leading the Big West with seven assists. He's assisted on two game-winning goals this season, and the squad is 5-0-1 in matches where he's recorded an assist 

5.62 - UCI tops the conference in most offensive categories including goals, assists, points, per game averages, and shots. UCI puts up 5.62 shots on goal per game as the conference high while its 10.3 fouls per game are the least on average

LAST WEEK RECAP
The Anteaters had an unbeaten week against North Division powers, Cal Poly and UCSB.
 
The defensive-minded Cal Poly Mustangs were ambushed with goals in the 2nd and 12th minutes from Ivan Canales to help UCI run out to the lead and eventually win, 3-1.
 
Saturday night pitted the Anteaters against UC Santa Barbara, winners of five straight. Mario Ortiz buried a PK in the 28th minute, but a Gaucho equalizer with seven minutes left sent the match to overtime where the sides would draw, 1-1.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The race in the Big West South really heats up as the team begin the six-game push for the three tournament spots available.
 
Opening up the week with a Wednesday match are the UC Riverside Highlanders. UCR finally got into the win column on Saturday downing UC Davis, 2-0, but had lost their first 10 matches of the season prior. The Highlanders' 1-10 record is a bit deceiving with six of the losses coming by a single goal including a 1-0 loss to No. 17 Omaha. Prior to last season, UCI and UCR had rotated season sweeps with UCI taking both matches in even years and UCR taking odd years since the South Division was formed in 2012. In 2016, the home team took each contest with UCI falling, 3-0, at Riverside and winning, 2-1, in Irvine late in the season. Constants in Ricardo Ruiz (2 G), Yosimar Hernandez, and Alan Alcantara have started all 11 matches as has keeper Vincent Morales whose stopped 52 shots. Antonio Lokossou (3 G) and Anthony Lopez (2 G, 2 A) have supplied the offense for a team that averages a goal per match while allowing over two. UCR is successful in earning corners with five per match.
 
UCI heads out on the road to finish the week Saturday at CSUN. The Matadors have mirrored the Anteater schedule beating ranked Denver while losing to New Mexico in Albuquerque, scoring a point in the Davis-Sacramento trip, and recently defeating Cal Poly while taking UCSB to 2OT. CSUN also has a win at a ranked Utah Valley squad running the record to 6-6-1. The teams split last season with UCI winning, 4-3, at home, and falling, 3-1, at Northridge. Emmanuel Usen Jr. is the offensive force powering CSUN with six goals and four game-winners. Daniel Trejo has added four of his own while keeper Henrik Regitnig has stopped 45 shots while making all 13 starts in net.

HIGH HONORS
The Anteaters continue to be the class of the Big West on offense holding the top spot with 24 goals, 27 assists, and 75 points which all rank within the top 12 nationally. All three game-averages also lead the Big West as well as the team's 14.85 shots per game which is 21st-best in the NCAA, and they've fired 5.62 of those shots per match on target. Helping that push is the conference-low of 10.31 fouls per match.
 
UC Irvine has itself a bit of an arms race for the team's top scorer as Giovanni Godoy and Ivan Canales have emerged with seven goals each to lead the Big West. Godoy's 16 points lead the team with Canales trailing at 15 points, but each have three game-winners and both players have scored in the same match on four occasions. Helping with the contributions are the team's assist leader, Daniel Crisostomo, who continues to sit ninth nationwide with his seven assists. Creeping up behind him is Mario Ortiz with five after a pair in the win over Cal Poly. He now stands with 11 points, third on the squad, after a four-point week which brought home his first Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor.

THROW-INS
+ 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 seven assists. The team is 5-0-1 in matches he's earned an assist
+ The Anteater offense has scored a goal in 17 of the last 18 matches dating back to 2016 and have scored three or more goals in four 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