LAST WEEK RECAP
UC Irvine got back on the soccer field with an exhibition match at USC on Friday played to a scoreless draw after 90 minutes. UCI held the possession advantage in the match, and despite drawing even in shots, 7-7, put more on target than the Trojans, 3-1, and earned the match's only two corner kicks.
 
New faces abound for the 'Eaters as freshman Sydney Carr earned the start on the front line and led all players with three shots, two on target, and forcing another off the crossbar. She was followed by nine other 'Eaters making their collegiate debuts.
 
Only five 'Eaters didn't see the field including seniors Kiana Palacios and Alex Karlowitsch as UCI befuddled the reigning National Champions and third-ranked squad in their own stadium.
 
Along with UCI's exhibition match, seven other Big West program started with an exhibition as well covering the entire conference except UC Riverside. CSUN was the only squad to play twice failing to score in either contest with a loss to Arizona State and draw with San Jose State.
 
Cal Poly and UCSB put up identical 3-1 wins over Fresno State and North Texas, respectively. Cal State Fullerton scored a 1-0 win over San Diego State. UC Davis and Long Beach State each suffered one-goal losses to Pac-12 schools Stanford and USC, respectively.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
UCI's regular season begins also on the road at a Pac-12 opponent in the Cal Bears. Berkeley wasn't originally on the 2017 schedule, but the program came together to make the match happen over the summer.
 
The 2016 Bears went 13-5-3 bowing out in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament in PKs. They wrapped up eight wins at home, however, including shutout wins over Cal Poly, Portland, and UC Davis.
 
The squads last met up in 2013 as Cal opened the year with a 3-1 victory in Anteater Stadium. The last meeting in Berkeley in 2010 played out to a 2-2 draw in a match that featured two Cal goals from future U.S. National Team star, Alex Morgan.
 
Cal was picked to finish fourth according to the Pac-12 preseason poll, and that's backed by the third-ranked recruiting class in the nation according to Top Drawer Soccer led by Emily Smith, a national team member in the under-17 Women's World Cup last year.
 
A dearth of talented returners are back as well with All-West Region honorees defender Haley Lukas and keeper Emily Boyd. A pair of talented sophomores in Mia Corbin and Abi Kim will also be a threat.

The 'Eaters turned around a seven-win season in 2015 finishing seventh in the conference into a second place finish last season, 13 wins, and a trip to the Big West Tournament final for the first time since 2011.

EARLY EXPECTATIONS
Head Coach Scott Juniper brings back a squad that saw nine returners that played in 20 or more games in 2016 as well as nine of the 11 starters from the tournament final back to the fold. "We've got a lot of returners, we've got a lot of experience coming back."
 
UC Irvine returns its leading goalscorer Kiana Palacios whose nine goals were tops in the nation midway through 2016. She also topped the team with 23 points and four game-winners. She missed the final four Big West games and the entire Big West Tournament off playing with Mexico's under-20 team in the U20 Women's World Cup.
 
Fellow senior Noel Baham picked up the slack adding six goals and putting up a team-high eight assists on a offense that outscored the rest of the conference while staying efficient with the fifth-highest amount of shots per game.
 
Grayson Galbraith added seven assist of her own on a squad that ranked 35th in the nation in assists with 39. Galbraith returns to the defensive midfield along with a defense that ranked second in the conference allowing less than a goal per match.
 
The team also returns its minutes leaders in defender Andrea Mensen and keeper Maddie Newsom who each played over 2,050 of the team's 2,064 minutes in 2016.

THROW-INS
+ The 'Eaters went 13-1-1 in 2016 in games they scored in with a loss and draw in the two matches against Cal State Fullerton
+ 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
+ Three Anteaters will begin 2017 with 50 career matches played in Andrea Mensen, Alex Karlowitsch, and Noel Baham. Kiana Palacios is one away with 49 appearances
+ 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 alongside Anteater alums Janelly Farias and Clarissa Robles
+ Lili Andino has also earned some national team experience playing with the Puerto Rican national squad over the summer
+ Last season, the program topped 300 total wins when it defeated UCSB, 1-0. The next milestone shows up on Head Coach Scott Juniper's resume who currently has 111 career wins and is approaching Marine Cano's mark of 113 wins as the all-time winningest coach in UC Irvine history