FIRST TOUCHES
4th - The Anteaters were picked to finish 4th in the Big West Preseason Poll. The 'Eaters were projected 7th in 2016 and finished the regular season 2nd in the standings
 
8 of 9 - Jessica Miclat opened UCI's scoring with a strike from the penalty spot. Dating back to 2013, the Anteaters have made 8 of their last 9 penalty kicks including going 4 for 5 in the PK shootout in the Big West semifinal last season

111 - Head Coach Scott Juniper enters his 11th season at the helm of the program with 111 career wins. He currently stands two wins behind Marine Cano's all-time program mark of 113 career wins

LAST WEEK RECAP
The Anteaters hit the ground running with a tough opening contest on the road at Cal, a program feature in some national rankings to start the year. After an early goal from Cal, UCI knotted things up with a PK convert in the 32nd minute. The match remained tied until the Bears slipped in the game-winner in the 69th minute downing UCI, 2-1.
 
The Anteaters were without a few of their regulars as Grayson Galbraith, Alex Karlowtisch, Kiana Palacios, and Lili Andino all missed the match. It gave way to a few Anteaters making their regular season debuts including a start for Sydney Carr. Claire Grouwinkel, Sara Young, and Serena Camacho joined her off the bench. Maritza Acuna manned the midfield making her first career start.
 
Jessica Miclat scored UCI's lone goal, the third of her career, and first on a PK. The defense allowed just a handful of shots from the potent Cal offense and one corner kick. Between No. 3 USC in the exhibition and Cal, the 'Eaters have conceded just one corner.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The 'Eaters begin an elongated weekend with a road match on Friday and returning to open the home slate for a Monday evening match.
 
Friday, the Anteaters will make their first trip to the Grand Canyon state since 2009, the last meeting between UCI and Arizona. The resulted in a 2-1 'Eater victory evening the all-time series, 1-1.
 
The Wildcats have begun with a stellar, 2-0 victory at Oklahoma following exhibition wins where they outscored Grand Canyon and UTEP, 5-1. The 2016 Wildcats ended the season with two wins, and won all five spring matches giving them 10 straight wins in all contests.
 
Two of the Wildcats' top scorers return in Gabi Stoian (6 G, 5 A) and Cali Crisler (4 G, 2 A). Newcomer Amanda Porter contributed assists on each goal in the opener. Keeper Lainey Burdett needed only to make one save in the opener. She returns after post a 1.16 GAA and 59 saves in 16 starts from 2016.

UCI will then head home for its first match in Anteater Stadium on Monday night taking on Portland for a third straight season. The Pilots found a way to score the overtime win last year in Irvine, 1-0, on a  97th-minute strike from Jess Kennedy despite UCI outshooting UP, 21-8, and doubling its shots on target. Portland finished 2016 going 9-7-3, but near the bottom of the testy West Coast Conference.
 
Early in 2017, Portland got a 1-1 exhibition draw against Oregon, and followed that up with one-goal results in its opening weekend beating Portland State and losing to NC State. The Pilots venture out for their first trip away from home visiting UCI after a Friday match at UC Davis.
 
Hannah Griffiths Boston returns after an eight-goal campaign in 2016, and already has both of Portland's goals in the early going. The only significant loss was Allison Wetherington's 13 points, but Natalie Muth (3 G, 2 A) and Larkin Russel (3 G) remain as does Russell whose only 2016 goal came at the hands of UC Irvine. Keeper Rachel Lusby split time in net last year, and stopped six shots in her shutout of the Anteaters, part of an 0.82 goals-against-average for the year.

THROW-INS
+ UCI is 4-3 all-time in the state of Arizona - 0-2 at Arizona State, 1-1 at Arizona, and neutral site wins over Utah State and Liberty in 2007 and Buffalo in 2004
+ With the loss to Cal, the 'Eaters are now 18-48-7 all-time against the Pac-12 Conference. They've had the most success vs. Oregon State (8 wins), won three each from Oregon and UCLA, and picked up single wins over Arizona, ASU, USC, and Washington State. The 'Eaters also have draws with Cal, Stanford, a pair with UCLA, and four with USC including one in an exhibition. The only program UCI has yet to square off with is Colorado
+ The 'Eaters' one win over Portland came in 2011 - 3-1 over the 25th-ranked Pilots in front of a crowd of 1,611 fans, a record for a UC Irvine women's soccer crowd
+ 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 began 2017 with 50 career matches played in Andrea Mensen, Alex Karlowitsch, and Noel Baham. Kiana Palacios and Grayson Galbraith are one away with 49 appearances each
+ 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