FIRST TOUCHES
5 - The Big West's assist leader, Reema Bzeih, and shutout leader, Maddie Newsom, have 5 of each. Bzeih also leads with 0.56 assists per game while Newsom has a conference-best 861:03 minutes played. UCI leads all Big West teams in assists (14) and shutouts (5)

44th - With the season nearly at the halfway point, UC Irvine's non-conference strength of schedule currently sits at the 44th-toughest in the nation which ranks 2nd in the conference. The 'Eaters' overall schedule comes in as the 85th-toughest

354 - It's a week of scoreless streaks for the program. UCI has gone 354 minutes since 2004 without allowing a goal to San Francisco who visits Sunday. UCI will travel to Santa Clara Thursday looking for its first goal against them in 321 minutes

LAST WEEK RECAP
UC Irvine started their run of WCC opponents travelling to USD on Friday. In a perfect copy of UCI's game-winning goal against Oregon, Reema Bzeih whipped a corner kick into the box that would be headed home by Grayson Galbraith for the lead in the 16th minute. USD did save a PK to keep the match within reach, but the Anteaters defense allowed the Toreros just two shots and none on goal for its sixth shutout of the year.
 
UCI returned home Sunday to host Pepperdine, and again took the lead in the 16th minute as Noel Baham's cross found Shelby Lee to head home the opening strike. Pepperdine would take advantage of penalty kick opportunities in the 22nd and 39th minutes to take a 2-1 lead into the half, and would hold the UCI attack down before adding to their total with goals in the 76th and 81st minute to complete a 4-1 victory for the Waves.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
In the final week of non-conference play, the Anteaters face off with their fifth and sixth WCC opponents on the season beginning with a Thursday trip to Santa Clara. The Broncos have fought through a brutal schedule to a 3-5-1 mark. SCU has battled with five ranked opponents drawing with No. 23 Michigan while falling to No. 2 Stanford, No. 7 USC, No. 7 UCLA, and No. 24 Cal in addition to squaring off with perennial winning programs Notre Dame and Washington State. Neither Santa Clara nor its opponents have registered a shutout in any game this season either. The Broncos are coming off a trip to the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2016, and looking to maintain a spotless 13-0-1 mark all-time against the Anteaters including a 1-0 victory last year. Sophomore Maddy Gonzalez's four goals pace the attack while Maria Sanchez (3 G, 3 A) and Julie Doyle (3 G) show up as formidable compliments. Courtney Ogren and Melissa Lowder have each seen considerable time in net with Lowder making six starts and stopping 28 shots.
 
UCI comes back home Sunday to start off a doubleheader in which the men and women each host San Francisco. The Dons have had a wild ride to reach 3-4-2 this season. USF shutout a ranked Cal squad, but then handed UC Davis its only win of the season. Then after an 8-0 drubbing to No. 2 Stanford, came back with a draw vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State and win over Oklahoma. The Dons were seventh in the WCC last year, and the last meeting with UCI was 2010 when the 'Eaters won, 2-0. Sonja Giraud runs the show with six of the team's 10 goals. She and Samantha Jehnings each have put up at least 20 shots. A backline of Micaela Mercado, Autumn Smithers, Cassidy Kaumeyer, and Nicole Kelsey have been there every game for Olivia Camera in net whose 65 saves leads the nation

FIRST AND FOREMOST
The Anteaters are nine matches into their season, but its never too late to have firsts which the team experienced a lot over the weekend.
 
Friday's win at USD was the team's first road win of the year while the Sunday result was UCI's first home loss. That came in a match where UCI trailed at the half for the first time this year. It was also the first match UCI lost after scoring first. UCI drew with LMU after allowing the Lions to score first. One Anteater made their debut on Sunday as Elizabeth Rivera played in her first career match as a forward the final seven minutes.
 
A few seconds happened following firsts, namely Grayson Galbraith and Shelby Lee each scoring their second goal of the season. The second Big West team beat a Pac-12 opponent last week joining the Anteaters who were the first when they dropped Oregon at home earlier.

THROW-INS
+ The Anteaters' two losses have come against Cal and Pepperdine, both programs that were unranked who now sit 13th and receiving votes in the latest polls, respectively.
+ UCI is winless in 14 matches vs. Santa Clara earning just one draw coming in September of 2011 including an 0-6 mark at SCU where UCI has never scored a goal
+ This is the fourth straight season these programs have met. UCI has not scored against the Broncos since the draw in 2011, a string of 321 consecutive shutout minutes from the SCU defense
+ UCI is unbeaten in five straight vs. USF dating back to 1992, have won four straight dating back to 2004, and have not allowed a goal under coach Juniper which is three straight matches dating to 2007
+ The 'Eaters almost belong in the WCC playing its fifth and sixth schools from the conference this season when they tackle Santa Clara and San Francisco. UCI is 31-59-11 all-time vs. the WCC.
+ Sunday will be a doubleheader with the men, the third of the season. UCI is 1-0-1 in previous doubleheaders outscoring teams, 3-0
+ UCI had a 7-game unbeaten streak snapped, its longest since a 13-match streak (8-0-5) between the 2011-12 seasons
+ UCI currently leads the Big West in shutouts and assists. Reema Bzeih's five assists lead the Big West while Maddie Newsom is the conference's leader in shutouts and minutes played
+ Five Anteaters have amassed 50 or more career matches played in Andrea Mensen, Alex Karlowitsch, Noel Baham, Kiana Palacios and Grayson Galbraith. The squad's active leaders are Baham with 67 matches played and Palacios with 57 starts
+ Kiana Palacios became the 12th Anteater to reach 20 career goals vs. Portland, and also became the 12th Anteater to reach 50 points for a career with three points vs. Toledo
+ 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
+ UCI's improved to 19-48-8 against the Pac-12 Conference in their history and are 1-1-1 against them this season in addition to an exhibition draw with No. 3 USC, the reigning national champions
+ 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