Men's Soccer Off to UC Davis, Sac State in Conference Openers

UPCOMING OPPONENTS

Game Notes

UC Irvine Anteaters at UC Davis Aggies (3-5-1)
Thursday, September 28, 2017 - 4:00 PM
Aggie Soccer Field - Davis, Calif.
Video | Live Stats

Series: UC Davis leads, 11-9-2 - 2016 meeting: Oct. 1 at home - L, 2-3

UC Irvine Anteaters at Sacramento State Hornets (4-4-0)
Saturday, September 30, 2017 - 4:00 PM
Hornet Field - Sacramento, Calif.
Video | Live Stats

Series: UC Irvine leads, 9-7-2 - 2016 meeting: Sept. 29 at home - L, 1-2

FIRST TOUCHES
2-7-1 - Since the Big West went to North and South Divisions in 2012, the Anteaters have gone 2-7-1 in road matches against North squads (2013 at Sac State - W, 2-1 | 2016 at Cal Poly - W, 2-0)

14 - UCI has run its streak to 14 straight matches with a goal dating back to 2016. The 'Eaters have outscored opponents 26-20 in that span with an overall record of 7-5-2, but 3-4-0 away from home

8 - The 'Eaters have scored first in 8 of their nine matches this season going 5-3 in those matches. The lone team to jump out in front against UCI has been Penn State in the 32nd minute resulting in the season's only draw (1-1)

LAST WEEK RECAP
UCI split its final two non-conference matches adding another shutout in the mix.

The 'Eaters were up against an LMU squad that outshot them in a match that was scoreless at the half, but Giovanni Godoy would convert a 53rd minute PK and Jose Ortiz capitalized in the 83rd minute following a Lion red card to earn the 2-0 victory on Thursday.

The 'Eaters started strong Sunday vs. San Francisco in front of 1,064 fans on a spectacular individual effort from Ivan Canales scoring in the 17th minute, but the Dons fought back with goals in the 51st and 58th minutes to pull the 2-1 upset.

AN INTERDIVISIONAL STORY
The heart of the season gets going this week with 10 Big West games ahead and the Anteaters trying for one of the three South Division spots to get back to the conference tournament.

UC Irvine comes out of non-conference play looking like the class of the Big West tied with Cal State Fullerton with the best record at 5-3-1. The Cal Poly Mustangs come out of it with the highest RPI at 26 fighting through a monster of the schedule winning its last four after starting with four close defeats on the road to ranked squads. The conference wasn't tested too much in non-conference play. Out of 205 men's soccer programs, UCI's schedule was the 112th in the nation and the third-toughest in the Big West. The conference as a whole has lost a step rated the 16th-best out of 24 in the NCAA. CSUN is a formidable foe with they and CSF going through ranked squads. UC Santa Barbara has been down winless in its first six matches until upending ranked Pacific, and despite the Gauchos always being a threat, their resume does not fair them well in addition to UC Riverside at 0-7 in non-conference action holding an RPI of 203 awaiting to deal any Big West foe they defeat a crushing blow to its at-large chances.

Along with the automatic bid, UCI's at-large chances were left intact through a 5-3-1 non-conference run. The team's RPI of 68 is just outside the top 45 regarded as the cutoff for NCAA at-large bids. Losses to Louisville (RPI 5) and New Mexico (RPI 46) aren't seen as bad losses while wins over Lipscomb (RPI 60) and at Denver (RPI 87) are big boosts. Even the demolition of Northern Kentucky (RPI 75) is looking great as the only loss they've been dealt. With five of the seven Big West squads at a lower RPI than the 'Eaters, there isn't much to raise UCI's too high. A win over Cal Poly would do wonders, and just as big would be avoiding losses to UC Riverside, but the 'Eaters can't bank on an at-large nod even without a deep tournament run.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
The beginning of conference play begins up north with trips to UC Davis and Sacramento State in the road portion of interdivisional play.

UCI opens with UC Davis for the first time since 2013 looking for its first win at Davis since 2010. UCD has taken the last two matches in the series including 2016 when UCI came back from an early 1-0 deficit to lead at halftime, 2-1, only to give it away, 3-2. Davis started strong with wins over USF and LMU, but are winless in their last four including losses to USD and Denver. Nine different Aggies have scored this year with Matt Baringer (3 G, 2 A) leading the way. Eight Aggies have started all nine games including their defensive corps of Evan Barrett, Marte Formico, Greg Salazar, and Roy Boateng. Wallis Lapsley has allowed 16 goals in his nine starts, but John Laughlin has seen action in four matches.

Sac State has also won the last two in the series, and UCI heads to Sacramento looking for its first win since 2013. The Hornets are an even 4-4 despite struggles at home at 1-3, but are coming off a 2016 where they earned its first Big West Tournament win. Justin Bedig and Christian Webb each have a pair of goals in the run of play while Trevor Jackson has added a pair from the penalty spot. James del Curto returns in goal this year with 20 saves through eight matches. His record-setting 15-save effort last year propelled the Hornets to a 2-1 win.

THROW-INS
+ UC Irvine played in front of 1,064 fans Sunday vs. San Francisco, the 19th home crowd of 1,000+ in program history. It was the first audience of over 1,000 in Anteater Stadium since the historic 1-0 victory over North Carolina in 2013 in the NCAA Tournament Second Round
+ 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.
+ 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
+ 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

Schedule

Men's Soccer Off to UC Davis, Sac State in Conference Openers

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Players Mentioned

Ivan Canales

Giovanni Godoy

Jose Ortiz

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