FIRST TOUCHES
23rd - After a defeat of No. 8 Denver, the 20th ranked opponent all-time the 'Eaters have defeated, the squad earned some props from TopDrawerSoccer.com jumping into the rankings at No. 23, its first ranking since September 4, 2015 when
they were 13th

11 - The Anteaters have been on the attack this season with 11 goals scored, 2nd in the conference. They have also gone 11 consecutive matches without being shutout dating back to October 12 of 2016

8 - UC Irvine defeated No. 8 Denver over the weekend. It was the 8th win all-time against a top 10 opponent and the 20th win overall against a ranked opponent for the program

LAST WEEK RECAP
UC Irvine came out of Albuquerque with a split against some formidable competition.
 
The Anteaters and eighth-ranked Denver met on a neutral site to start the weekend, and the 'Eaters started out the better team with a majority of the first half chances. They made good on one in the 57th minute by Ivan Canales and Alex Waldron stopped a barrage from the Pioneers late for the 1-0 upset.
 
Sunday's test was against the host Lobos of New Mexico, and the 'Eaters found the first strike once again this time in the 11th minute and a filthy combination between Mario Ortiz and Jose Ortiz. The Lobos got a seeing-eye-goal in the 39th minute to tie things, and finished with a resounding header as the game-winner in the 52nd minute. Waldron came up big once again saving a penalty kick shot in the 79th minute, but UNM still had enough for the 2-1 victory handing UCI its first loss in five matches.
 
Head Coach Yossi Raz gave his two cents on the win saying, "A great win against a very, very good opponent. It's a sign that we're progressing, it's a sign that we have moved forward as a program and I'm excited about that. The players and staff have put a lot of hard work into it, and so the hope is that we keep building on this."

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
A different setup to this week as the Anteaters have just one match which comes on Monday in Anteater Stadium hosting Lipscomb University.
 
The Bisons hail from Nashville, Tennessee, and have be respectable lately coming off a conference title and 12 wins in 2014 and putting up 10 more wins in 2016. Lipscomb is also a very veteran team dressing out 15 upperclassmen with 10 of them seniors. Junior Logan Paynter holds the key after leading the squad with 11 goals in 2016, he's scored the last four goals for the Bisons flanked by offensive threats Ivan Sakou, Eduardo Reza, and Ivan Alvarado. Defender Ben Locke has also chimed in with offense when he, Cameron Botes, and Joe Kerridge aren't manning the backline. Christopher Zappia is the man between the pipes posting 20 saves so far after going 1-2-2 in 500 minutes last season. The 3-2 Bisons begin their West Coast trip at San Diego Friday night as they look for their first road result after going 0-2 early in the season.

RISING TO THE OCCASION
The Anteaters made a big statement with its 1-1 weekend at the invitational in New Mexico highlighted by its 1-0 victory over No. 8 Denver. The Pioneers are the eighth top-10 opponent UCI has ever beaten with all eight coming away from home and six via a shutout. UCI ran its all-time record to 20-24-6 against ranked foes.
 
In the process, UC Irvine earned some cred for itself climbing into one set of national rankings as it now stands as No. 23 according to TopDrawerSoccer.com. It's the first time the program has been ranked since September 4, 2015. In the process, losses for Denver against the Anteaters and CSUN bumped Denver completely out of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and down to No. 25 on Top Drawer Soccer. UCI doesn't have any remaining opponents currently in the Top 25, and Louisville remains as the only other ranked foe at No. 13

THROW-INS
+ The Anteaters offense has scored in 11 straight matches dating back to October of 2016
+ In the first 23 minutes of the half, the Anteaters are outscoring their opponents 11-1. In the final 22 minutes of the half, UCI's opponents outscore them 7-0
+ Lipscomb is the fourth first-time opponent this season, UCI is 2-0-1 against the previous three
+ This is the third Atlantic Sun Conference opponent UCI has come across in its history. Last season, UCI hosted Florida Gulf Coast losing, 2-1, its first loss to the ASun. All-time, UCI is 3-1 against the conference going 1-1 with FGCU and 2-0 vs. North Florida
+ The Anteaters lead the Big West Conference in points per game (5.83) and assists (13). They've also committed 11.17 fouls per game which is lowest in the conference.
+ Alex Waldron leads Big West keepers in GAA (0.947)
+ Waldron's PK save Sunday was the 2nd of his career. UC Irvine keepers have saved 5 of the last 9 penalty kick opportunities dating back to 2015
+ Ignacio Ramirez made his first career start on Sunday
+ Brothers Mario Ortiz and Jose Ortiz linked up on a goal for the first time in their careers in the 11th minute of Sunday's match
+ Head Coach Yossi Raz and New Mexico head coach Jeremy Fishbein were each issued a red card in the 67th minute of Sunday's match
+ 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.