Thursday, October 25
Fullerton, CA
7:00 PM
UC Irvine
at
Cal State Fullerton
Photo by: Jenny Chuang
'Eaters Search for Tourney Berth in Final Week at Titans
October 22, 2018 | Women's Soccer
After a resounding win on Senior Night against CSUN and a tight loss at Long Beach State, the 'Eaters have one match left to punch a postseason ticket or Big West title while the rest of the Big West jousts for position around them
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Β Storylines
β’ UC Irvine remains in first place in the Big West with 14 points ahead of Long Beach State by one point in second place
β’ The Anteaters have one match remaining on Cal State Fullerton on the precipice of scoring a Big West Tournament berth, and the 'Eaters will be watching the other eight Big West schools battle it out Sunday to determine where exactly UCI falls in the picture
β’ The 'Eaters' unbeaten Big West run ended Sunday. UCI had not lost in eight straight matches (6-0-2) prior
β’ UC Irvine punctuated senior night with three goals, all from seniors in Reema Bzeih, Shelby Lee, and Alex Karlowitsch
β’ Maddie Newsom stopped three shots in Thursday's win to reach 200 saves for her career becoming the fourth Anteater keeper with 200 saves in a career. She added more to her offensive resume Sunday scoring a goal, the first for a goalkeeper in Anteater history and giving her five points on the season, and her four point in conference play rank tied for eighth
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About Cal State Fullerton
β’ The 2017 Big West Tournament champions have been a shell of itself in 2018 with a 3-12-2 record despite close losses to BYU and Arizona in non-conference. CSF is still looking for a Big West win at 0-5-1 after being eliminated from tournament contention with a loss Sunday as the Titans are now winless in their last 10 (0-9-1)
β’ The Titans drew up a 12-6-4 mark in 2017 losing to the 'Eaters in the regular season finale to give up the regular season title, but defeated them in the tournament to reach the NCAAs before bowing out to Pepperdine, 1-0.
β’ The trio of Nano Oronoz (5 G, 1 A), Atlanta Primus (4 G, 3 A), and Kristen Swales (5 G) have been the crux of Cal State Fullerton's success, freshman Kaya Hawkinson is delivered four assists helping them out, and the keeper situation has been Tianna Sanders for 14 starts this season stopping 55 shots and allowing just seven goals in four Big West matches, but Allison Poole has started two of the last three matches allowing two goals each to UC Davis and Cal Poly
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Getting into the Tournament
β’ The Anteaters with 14 conference points still have not secured a spot in the 4-team Big West Tournament. A lot of it has to do with the fact that UC Irvine has one match left to play while nearly everyone else in the conference still has a match in hand to make up the points. The simple route for the Anteaters to get into the tournament is a win or draw Thursday in Fullerton
β’ UC Irvine can get in even with a loss on Thursday coupled with a UC Davis loss or a loss or draw from Hawai'i
β’ At this point, it would be tougher to keep the Anteaters out of the tournament. If the 'Eaters lose Thursday, they would still need UC Davis to defeat Long Beach State on Thursday, UC Santa Barbara to win one of its final two matches against CSUN or Cal Poly, AND Hawai'i to win both of its final two matches against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton
β’ The other side of the coin asks whether the Anteaters can still take home a Big West regular season title and the No. 1 seed. UCI holds the tiebreaker over most every other Big West school except Long Beach State, so a tie atop the table would give UCI the edge. Even with a draw however, UCI would need LBSU and UCSB to stay out of the win column at least once
β’ There is a scenario where four teams (UCI, LBSU, Hawa'i, UCSB) could all make the field and share the title with 15 points each. In that scenario, UC Irvine would get the No. 2 seed
β’ When determining tiebreakers in the Big West standings, head-to-head matchups lead the way followed by goal differential in conference games then least amount of conference goals allowed then most conference goals scored before comparing records against conference opponents. When three or more teams finish tied in points, those three or more teams points earned against each other are compared with the most points earning that tiebreaker, and the remaining teams go through the same process.
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With a win...
β’ ...UCI will earn a spot in the Big West Tournament finishing no worse than the No. 3 seed
β’ β¦it will guarantee a third straight winning season for the program and ninth in Head Coach Scott Juniper's 12 seasons
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Up Next
β’ The Anteaters' season will need a point in the match at Cal State Fullerton or some help from other Big West programs to keep it going in the Big West Tournament where a tournament title will ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. UC Irvine's RPI at 72 is good, but not within the top 45-50 needed for an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament
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Breaking News-om
β’ Maddie Newsom has set a career high and tied it once this season with nine saves in a match, first in a 2OT loss against Washington, and matching it in the regulation victory over San Diego
β’ Newsom stopped two penalty attempts in the win over San Francisco giving her three PK saves all-time joining her stop against UC Davis in the 89th minute last season in a 1-0 loss at home
β’ Newsom surpassed Jenn Randazzo and Kirsten Roy on the all-time wins list this season. She jumped Roy the previous week with wins over UCSB and Cal Poly giving her 31 now which ranks third all-time among Anteater keepers
β’ Newsom has hurdled Erin Henry, Sarah Swancutt, Janice Taft, Allison Merrick, Jenn Randazzo, Amee Chapman, and now Marissa Welliver this season in saves, and against CSUN, she surpassed 200 for her career, becoming just the fourth Anteater keeper to do so
β’ Newsom also joined the 50-match club back on Sep. 16 in the match at Pepperdine. She is among the 76 Anteaters with at least 50 matches played, and she's started all of them making her the 1 of 44 Anteaters with 50+ starts
β’ Newsom has made an amazing offensive jump assisting on three goals this season, all coming in the last four matches. The three goalkeeper assists sets a new NCAA single-season record, and her three in a career ties her with Baylor's Dawn Greathouse who had three career assists and a goal from 1997-99
β’ Newsom did something now other Anteater keeper has ever done by scoring a goal in the 90th minute of UCI's loss at Long Beach State. Her five points this season rank 28th in the conference, and her four points in conference play tie her for eighth. Her five career points tie her with Baylor GK Dawn Greathouse for most in NCAA history for a goalkeeper
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Numerology
β’ Overall, the team is 3-1-3 in overtime this year, each time playing in double overtime. UCI has had two 2OT wins one other time in program history (2010). UCI's program record of OT matches in a season is nine (2003) while the seven 2OT matches surpasses the record of six played in (2010)
β’ In the program's history of 687 matches, 149 of them have reached overtime with UCI winning 34 - 19 in the 1st OT and 15 in the 2nd OT - losing 36 - 27 in the 1st OT and 9 in the 2nd OT - and tying 79 times
β’ Maddie Newsom won her first ever Big West Defensive Player of the Week October 8 stopping eight shots over 212 minutes and earning two wins. Newsom also assisted on both game-winning goals giving her an NCAA record three assists on the season
β’ Shelby Lee completed the sweep of Big West Player of the Week awards with Newsom by collecting the offensive honor after scoring a goal in each match over the week including her first career game-winner Sunday to defeat Cal Poly with 28 seconds remaining in 2OT. She has scored all four goals in conference play, and her four goals and eight points both rank second in the Big West
β’ Claire Grouwinkel registered her first two multi-goal games in her career against USF and USD with a reward in the form of a Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor. Since 2014, Anteaters have knocked in two goals in a match 12 times including five from Kiana Palacios, two from Laura McGrail, and one from another current Anteater, Lili Andino. Grouwinkel is the only of those that achieved each in consecutive matches
β’ Reema Bzeih scored her second career goal on an Olimpico Thursday night. Both of her goals have accounted for game-winners, and she's 1 of 3 players in 2018 with multiple Big West GWG
β’ Alex Karlowitsch scored her first goal since 2015 as part of Thursday's win. It was the fourth of her career. She's also tied eighth in program history with Natalia Ledezma registering 15 assists
β’ Kelsee Pottorff knocked home her first career goal on Friday to win the match against UC Santa Barbara. She is one of five Anteaters (McDaniel, Bzeih, Jaquez, Kelley) to each score their first career goals this season and one of five 'Eaters (Bzeih, Jaquez, Grouwinkel, Kelley) to produce their first game-winner. Pottorff has a goal and four assists this season, all in conference play. Her five conference points tie her for fourth-most in Big West play
β’ The goal scored by McDaniel to start the season was the first by an Anteater defender since Kelsey Texeira in the 2016 Big West Tournament Semifinal vs. Cal State Fullerton. In fact, the Anteaters' first two goals of 2018 were by defender.
Match Making
β’ Lili Andino joined Alex Karlowitsch as 'Eaters to reach 70 career matches this season. Together, they make the 28th and 29th Anteaters all-time to do that. Karlowitsch also reached 50 starts to become the 44th Anteater with as many in a career joining Reema Bzeih and Maddie Newsom who have done so already in 2018. Andino has potential to join them
β’ Jessica Miclat and Aleah Kelley joined the ranks of the 50 career match-club last week upping the all-time total to 76 and seven alone win 2018
β’ Aleah Kelley was issued the program's first red card since 2014 in the loss at Pepperdine. Kelley served her one-game suspension in the team's match at San Francisco
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Crowd Surfing
β’ UC Irvine's season opener attracted 1,704 Anteater fans to Anteater Stadium setting a new single-game record for a women's soccer match.
β’ The previous record of 1,611 fans had stood since 2011 in a 3-1 victory over Portland
β’ The crowd was the ninth in program history to surpass 1,000 which includes two a season ago.
β’ The mark fits in as the fourth-largest crowd in the history of the stadium with the three higher marks all belonging to the men's soccer program
β’ The season-opening crowd, however, is the largest of any team for a regular season contest
Anteaters Around the Globe
β’ UC Irvine's professional squad grew last month with Mady Solow's signing with Swiss side FC Basel just after it was eliminated from UEFA Champions League qualifying. Solow is with her third professional squad which began in Iceland with Throttur Reykjavik in 2015 scoring one goal in 11 matches. She then leapt to Italian club Chievo Verona for the 2017-18 season starting 21 matches and scoring three times. Solow has even seen action for the Polish national team earning a cap during the 2017 UEFA Women's Championship
β’ Kiana Palacios began with Spanish side Real Sociedad coming off the bench in each of her first three matches. She joined the Mexican National Team as they attempted to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup last week, but were unsuccessful with an early exit in group play.
β’ Noel Baham has helped her Lithuanian side, FK Gintra Universietas, qualify for the Champions League scoring once in her team's three qualifying wins. Baham and FK Gintra played in the Champions League Round of 16 matchups with Slavia Praha, a 3-0 loss, with Baham entering the match in the 62nd minute, and started in the second leg in which they were eliminated.
β’ Maria Magaña is part of independent side Einherji FC in Iceland where she's earned a win in limited action
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Preseason Pub
β’ The Anteaters were voted the favorites to win the Big West Conference in 2018 edging out a projected top four of Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, and CSUN
β’ UC Irvine was 1 of 2 programs (UC Riverside) without a player voted on the Preseason All-Big West squad
β’ UC Irvine will host the 2018 Big West Tournament after claiming the 2017 regular season title. It will be the fourth time the Big West Tournament has come to UCI
β’ The 'Eaters return two from the 2017 All-Big West squad - forwardΒ Claire GrouwinkelΒ earned All-Freshman Team honors whileΒ Maddie NewsomΒ scored Honorable Mention for the second straight season
β’ Head CoachΒ Scott JuniperΒ returns after earning his second Big West Coach of the Year honor
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2017-18 Highlights
β’ UC Irvine claimed its third Big West regular season title joining the 2010 and 2011 squads
β’ Last season marked the eighth time in 11 seasons under head coachΒ Scott JuniperΒ that the Anteaters have finished with a winning record and seventh time with at least 10 wins
β’ The Anteaters were responsible for the Big West's Offensive Player of the Year (Noel Baham) and Midfielder of the Year (Kiana Palacios)
β’ The 'Eaters finished as the conference leaders in assists (32) and shutouts (10) and a tie for the least amount of goals allowed (17) while finishing just behind in second for goals, GAA, and corner kicks
β’ Coach Juniper became the program's winningest head coach when he won his 114th career match over Oregon, 1-0
Count It
UCI played an exhibition match against Long Beach State at Championship Soccer Stadium in the OC Great Park. After three 30-minute periods, the Anteaters came through with the 1-0 victory on aΒ Claire GrouwinkelΒ goal in the second period. There were 32 Anteaters that made an appearance in the match including 12 freshmen and three different goalkeepers that preserved the shutout. All-time under coach Juniper, UCI is now 2-0-4 in exhibition matches
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Top of the Heap
Head CoachΒ Scott JuniperΒ enters as the team's head coach for his 12th season. He overtook the program's lead in head coaching wins last season, and enters 2018 with 121 to show for it. Under Juniper, the 'Eaters have won three Big West regular season titles, reached the NCAA Tournament twice, had eight winning seasons, and won as many as 10 games seven times.
Triumphant Returns
The Anteaters get a big boost in key areas by the returns of seniorsΒ Alex KarlowitschΒ andΒ Jonnae Joseph. KarlowitschΒ sat our 2017 with an injury, but the former All-Big West player as a freshman is back to command the midfielder. Joseph was cut down with an injury before conference play in 2017 missing over half the season. Her tenacity along the wing and senior leadership will fuel each third for the Anteaters
What does the Future Hold?
Coach Juniper has brought in 15 newcomers to the squad this season, 13 of which are freshman.Β Alex JaquezΒ andΒ Scarlett CamberosΒ have risen through the ranks quickly looking to earn some minutes as forwards. Midfielders earning some looks have beenΒ Amber HuffΒ along with a slew of second-year Anteaters. Defensively, more of the same with a lot of second-year talent ready to make the jump along with the freshman presence ofΒ Piper Wurth.Β Maddie Newsom'sΒ grip on the keeper spot is formidable, but the competition for second-in-line is white-hot between seniorΒ Idalis Gonzalez, third-yearΒ Madi Puliafico, and freshmanΒ Glo Hinojosa.
Defending the Crown
The stout reminder of UCI's regular season glory from a year ago is seen by the returning presence on the backline ofΒ Aleah Kelley,Β Reema Bzeih, andΒ Maddie Newsom. Kelley led the team in minutes a year ago while BzeihΒ added to her breakout sophomore season with five more assists, andΒ Maddie NewsomΒ continues to be the class of the Big West in net posting eight shutouts in each of her first two seasons
She'll Be Back
Shelby LeeΒ has made a lot of noise on and off the field over the last 12 months. She came into her own as a junior playing all 20 matches and scoring her first three goals in addition to assist on a pair. She also has held the title of NCAA Regional SAAC representative for a year now as head of the Big West. She's made a lot of efforts to organize student-athlete life managing time between academic and athletic priorities for all student-athletes, and looks to make a strong final impression all-around in her senior campaign
What's Missing?
The Anteaters graduate their two top scorers from a year ago inΒ Kiana PalaciosΒ andΒ Noel Baham, the Big West Midfielder and Big West Offensive Player of the Year, respectively. Each scored six goals and accounted for three game-winners and 11 assists between them. The attacking presence will be dotted with veterans pieces such as juniorsΒ Lili Andino,Β Jessica Miclat,Β Carley Brown, andΒ Claire Grouwinkel
Opposing Views
The Anteater non-conference schedule is as beefy as ever. The United Soccer Coaches rankings were unveiled Tuesday, and from it two Anteater opponents were issued top-25 status starting with UCI's season-opening guest, USC, at No. 12. Pepperdine starts the year at No. 18 as the 'Eaters will travel to them later in September. One other opponent was receiving votes landing it just outside the top 25 in Arizona, and that could change after the first weekend of play.Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β
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UC Irvine AnteatersΒ at Cal State Fullerton Titans
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium - Fullerton, Calif.
Live StatsΒ |Β Video
Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Titan Stadium - Fullerton, Calif.
Live StatsΒ |Β Video
Β Storylines
β’ UC Irvine remains in first place in the Big West with 14 points ahead of Long Beach State by one point in second place
β’ The Anteaters have one match remaining on Cal State Fullerton on the precipice of scoring a Big West Tournament berth, and the 'Eaters will be watching the other eight Big West schools battle it out Sunday to determine where exactly UCI falls in the picture
β’ The 'Eaters' unbeaten Big West run ended Sunday. UCI had not lost in eight straight matches (6-0-2) prior
β’ UC Irvine punctuated senior night with three goals, all from seniors in Reema Bzeih, Shelby Lee, and Alex Karlowitsch
β’ Maddie Newsom stopped three shots in Thursday's win to reach 200 saves for her career becoming the fourth Anteater keeper with 200 saves in a career. She added more to her offensive resume Sunday scoring a goal, the first for a goalkeeper in Anteater history and giving her five points on the season, and her four point in conference play rank tied for eighth
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About Cal State Fullerton
β’ The 2017 Big West Tournament champions have been a shell of itself in 2018 with a 3-12-2 record despite close losses to BYU and Arizona in non-conference. CSF is still looking for a Big West win at 0-5-1 after being eliminated from tournament contention with a loss Sunday as the Titans are now winless in their last 10 (0-9-1)
β’ The Titans drew up a 12-6-4 mark in 2017 losing to the 'Eaters in the regular season finale to give up the regular season title, but defeated them in the tournament to reach the NCAAs before bowing out to Pepperdine, 1-0.
β’ The trio of Nano Oronoz (5 G, 1 A), Atlanta Primus (4 G, 3 A), and Kristen Swales (5 G) have been the crux of Cal State Fullerton's success, freshman Kaya Hawkinson is delivered four assists helping them out, and the keeper situation has been Tianna Sanders for 14 starts this season stopping 55 shots and allowing just seven goals in four Big West matches, but Allison Poole has started two of the last three matches allowing two goals each to UC Davis and Cal Poly
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Getting into the Tournament
β’ The Anteaters with 14 conference points still have not secured a spot in the 4-team Big West Tournament. A lot of it has to do with the fact that UC Irvine has one match left to play while nearly everyone else in the conference still has a match in hand to make up the points. The simple route for the Anteaters to get into the tournament is a win or draw Thursday in Fullerton
β’ UC Irvine can get in even with a loss on Thursday coupled with a UC Davis loss or a loss or draw from Hawai'i
β’ At this point, it would be tougher to keep the Anteaters out of the tournament. If the 'Eaters lose Thursday, they would still need UC Davis to defeat Long Beach State on Thursday, UC Santa Barbara to win one of its final two matches against CSUN or Cal Poly, AND Hawai'i to win both of its final two matches against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton
β’ The other side of the coin asks whether the Anteaters can still take home a Big West regular season title and the No. 1 seed. UCI holds the tiebreaker over most every other Big West school except Long Beach State, so a tie atop the table would give UCI the edge. Even with a draw however, UCI would need LBSU and UCSB to stay out of the win column at least once
β’ There is a scenario where four teams (UCI, LBSU, Hawa'i, UCSB) could all make the field and share the title with 15 points each. In that scenario, UC Irvine would get the No. 2 seed
β’ When determining tiebreakers in the Big West standings, head-to-head matchups lead the way followed by goal differential in conference games then least amount of conference goals allowed then most conference goals scored before comparing records against conference opponents. When three or more teams finish tied in points, those three or more teams points earned against each other are compared with the most points earning that tiebreaker, and the remaining teams go through the same process.
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With a win...
β’ ...UCI will earn a spot in the Big West Tournament finishing no worse than the No. 3 seed
β’ β¦it will guarantee a third straight winning season for the program and ninth in Head Coach Scott Juniper's 12 seasons
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Up Next
β’ The Anteaters' season will need a point in the match at Cal State Fullerton or some help from other Big West programs to keep it going in the Big West Tournament where a tournament title will ensure a spot in the NCAA Tournament. UC Irvine's RPI at 72 is good, but not within the top 45-50 needed for an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament
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Breaking News-om
β’ Maddie Newsom has set a career high and tied it once this season with nine saves in a match, first in a 2OT loss against Washington, and matching it in the regulation victory over San Diego
β’ Newsom stopped two penalty attempts in the win over San Francisco giving her three PK saves all-time joining her stop against UC Davis in the 89th minute last season in a 1-0 loss at home
β’ Newsom surpassed Jenn Randazzo and Kirsten Roy on the all-time wins list this season. She jumped Roy the previous week with wins over UCSB and Cal Poly giving her 31 now which ranks third all-time among Anteater keepers
β’ Newsom has hurdled Erin Henry, Sarah Swancutt, Janice Taft, Allison Merrick, Jenn Randazzo, Amee Chapman, and now Marissa Welliver this season in saves, and against CSUN, she surpassed 200 for her career, becoming just the fourth Anteater keeper to do so
β’ Newsom also joined the 50-match club back on Sep. 16 in the match at Pepperdine. She is among the 76 Anteaters with at least 50 matches played, and she's started all of them making her the 1 of 44 Anteaters with 50+ starts
β’ Newsom has made an amazing offensive jump assisting on three goals this season, all coming in the last four matches. The three goalkeeper assists sets a new NCAA single-season record, and her three in a career ties her with Baylor's Dawn Greathouse who had three career assists and a goal from 1997-99
β’ Newsom did something now other Anteater keeper has ever done by scoring a goal in the 90th minute of UCI's loss at Long Beach State. Her five points this season rank 28th in the conference, and her four points in conference play tie her for eighth. Her five career points tie her with Baylor GK Dawn Greathouse for most in NCAA history for a goalkeeper
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Numerology
β’ Overall, the team is 3-1-3 in overtime this year, each time playing in double overtime. UCI has had two 2OT wins one other time in program history (2010). UCI's program record of OT matches in a season is nine (2003) while the seven 2OT matches surpasses the record of six played in (2010)
β’ In the program's history of 687 matches, 149 of them have reached overtime with UCI winning 34 - 19 in the 1st OT and 15 in the 2nd OT - losing 36 - 27 in the 1st OT and 9 in the 2nd OT - and tying 79 times
β’ Maddie Newsom won her first ever Big West Defensive Player of the Week October 8 stopping eight shots over 212 minutes and earning two wins. Newsom also assisted on both game-winning goals giving her an NCAA record three assists on the season
β’ Shelby Lee completed the sweep of Big West Player of the Week awards with Newsom by collecting the offensive honor after scoring a goal in each match over the week including her first career game-winner Sunday to defeat Cal Poly with 28 seconds remaining in 2OT. She has scored all four goals in conference play, and her four goals and eight points both rank second in the Big West
β’ Claire Grouwinkel registered her first two multi-goal games in her career against USF and USD with a reward in the form of a Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor. Since 2014, Anteaters have knocked in two goals in a match 12 times including five from Kiana Palacios, two from Laura McGrail, and one from another current Anteater, Lili Andino. Grouwinkel is the only of those that achieved each in consecutive matches
β’ Reema Bzeih scored her second career goal on an Olimpico Thursday night. Both of her goals have accounted for game-winners, and she's 1 of 3 players in 2018 with multiple Big West GWG
β’ Alex Karlowitsch scored her first goal since 2015 as part of Thursday's win. It was the fourth of her career. She's also tied eighth in program history with Natalia Ledezma registering 15 assists
β’ Kelsee Pottorff knocked home her first career goal on Friday to win the match against UC Santa Barbara. She is one of five Anteaters (McDaniel, Bzeih, Jaquez, Kelley) to each score their first career goals this season and one of five 'Eaters (Bzeih, Jaquez, Grouwinkel, Kelley) to produce their first game-winner. Pottorff has a goal and four assists this season, all in conference play. Her five conference points tie her for fourth-most in Big West play
β’ The goal scored by McDaniel to start the season was the first by an Anteater defender since Kelsey Texeira in the 2016 Big West Tournament Semifinal vs. Cal State Fullerton. In fact, the Anteaters' first two goals of 2018 were by defender.
Match Making
β’ Lili Andino joined Alex Karlowitsch as 'Eaters to reach 70 career matches this season. Together, they make the 28th and 29th Anteaters all-time to do that. Karlowitsch also reached 50 starts to become the 44th Anteater with as many in a career joining Reema Bzeih and Maddie Newsom who have done so already in 2018. Andino has potential to join them
β’ Jessica Miclat and Aleah Kelley joined the ranks of the 50 career match-club last week upping the all-time total to 76 and seven alone win 2018
β’ Aleah Kelley was issued the program's first red card since 2014 in the loss at Pepperdine. Kelley served her one-game suspension in the team's match at San Francisco
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Crowd Surfing
β’ UC Irvine's season opener attracted 1,704 Anteater fans to Anteater Stadium setting a new single-game record for a women's soccer match.
β’ The previous record of 1,611 fans had stood since 2011 in a 3-1 victory over Portland
β’ The crowd was the ninth in program history to surpass 1,000 which includes two a season ago.
β’ The mark fits in as the fourth-largest crowd in the history of the stadium with the three higher marks all belonging to the men's soccer program
β’ The season-opening crowd, however, is the largest of any team for a regular season contest
Anteaters Around the Globe
β’ UC Irvine's professional squad grew last month with Mady Solow's signing with Swiss side FC Basel just after it was eliminated from UEFA Champions League qualifying. Solow is with her third professional squad which began in Iceland with Throttur Reykjavik in 2015 scoring one goal in 11 matches. She then leapt to Italian club Chievo Verona for the 2017-18 season starting 21 matches and scoring three times. Solow has even seen action for the Polish national team earning a cap during the 2017 UEFA Women's Championship
β’ Kiana Palacios began with Spanish side Real Sociedad coming off the bench in each of her first three matches. She joined the Mexican National Team as they attempted to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup last week, but were unsuccessful with an early exit in group play.
β’ Noel Baham has helped her Lithuanian side, FK Gintra Universietas, qualify for the Champions League scoring once in her team's three qualifying wins. Baham and FK Gintra played in the Champions League Round of 16 matchups with Slavia Praha, a 3-0 loss, with Baham entering the match in the 62nd minute, and started in the second leg in which they were eliminated.
β’ Maria Magaña is part of independent side Einherji FC in Iceland where she's earned a win in limited action
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Preseason Pub
β’ The Anteaters were voted the favorites to win the Big West Conference in 2018 edging out a projected top four of Long Beach State, Cal State Fullerton, and CSUN
β’ UC Irvine was 1 of 2 programs (UC Riverside) without a player voted on the Preseason All-Big West squad
β’ UC Irvine will host the 2018 Big West Tournament after claiming the 2017 regular season title. It will be the fourth time the Big West Tournament has come to UCI
β’ The 'Eaters return two from the 2017 All-Big West squad - forwardΒ Claire GrouwinkelΒ earned All-Freshman Team honors whileΒ Maddie NewsomΒ scored Honorable Mention for the second straight season
β’ Head CoachΒ Scott JuniperΒ returns after earning his second Big West Coach of the Year honor
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2017-18 Highlights
β’ UC Irvine claimed its third Big West regular season title joining the 2010 and 2011 squads
β’ Last season marked the eighth time in 11 seasons under head coachΒ Scott JuniperΒ that the Anteaters have finished with a winning record and seventh time with at least 10 wins
β’ The Anteaters were responsible for the Big West's Offensive Player of the Year (Noel Baham) and Midfielder of the Year (Kiana Palacios)
β’ The 'Eaters finished as the conference leaders in assists (32) and shutouts (10) and a tie for the least amount of goals allowed (17) while finishing just behind in second for goals, GAA, and corner kicks
β’ Coach Juniper became the program's winningest head coach when he won his 114th career match over Oregon, 1-0
Count It
UCI played an exhibition match against Long Beach State at Championship Soccer Stadium in the OC Great Park. After three 30-minute periods, the Anteaters came through with the 1-0 victory on aΒ Claire GrouwinkelΒ goal in the second period. There were 32 Anteaters that made an appearance in the match including 12 freshmen and three different goalkeepers that preserved the shutout. All-time under coach Juniper, UCI is now 2-0-4 in exhibition matches
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Top of the Heap
Head CoachΒ Scott JuniperΒ enters as the team's head coach for his 12th season. He overtook the program's lead in head coaching wins last season, and enters 2018 with 121 to show for it. Under Juniper, the 'Eaters have won three Big West regular season titles, reached the NCAA Tournament twice, had eight winning seasons, and won as many as 10 games seven times.
Triumphant Returns
The Anteaters get a big boost in key areas by the returns of seniorsΒ Alex KarlowitschΒ andΒ Jonnae Joseph. KarlowitschΒ sat our 2017 with an injury, but the former All-Big West player as a freshman is back to command the midfielder. Joseph was cut down with an injury before conference play in 2017 missing over half the season. Her tenacity along the wing and senior leadership will fuel each third for the Anteaters
What does the Future Hold?
Coach Juniper has brought in 15 newcomers to the squad this season, 13 of which are freshman.Β Alex JaquezΒ andΒ Scarlett CamberosΒ have risen through the ranks quickly looking to earn some minutes as forwards. Midfielders earning some looks have beenΒ Amber HuffΒ along with a slew of second-year Anteaters. Defensively, more of the same with a lot of second-year talent ready to make the jump along with the freshman presence ofΒ Piper Wurth.Β Maddie Newsom'sΒ grip on the keeper spot is formidable, but the competition for second-in-line is white-hot between seniorΒ Idalis Gonzalez, third-yearΒ Madi Puliafico, and freshmanΒ Glo Hinojosa.
Defending the Crown
The stout reminder of UCI's regular season glory from a year ago is seen by the returning presence on the backline ofΒ Aleah Kelley,Β Reema Bzeih, andΒ Maddie Newsom. Kelley led the team in minutes a year ago while BzeihΒ added to her breakout sophomore season with five more assists, andΒ Maddie NewsomΒ continues to be the class of the Big West in net posting eight shutouts in each of her first two seasons
She'll Be Back
Shelby LeeΒ has made a lot of noise on and off the field over the last 12 months. She came into her own as a junior playing all 20 matches and scoring her first three goals in addition to assist on a pair. She also has held the title of NCAA Regional SAAC representative for a year now as head of the Big West. She's made a lot of efforts to organize student-athlete life managing time between academic and athletic priorities for all student-athletes, and looks to make a strong final impression all-around in her senior campaign
What's Missing?
The Anteaters graduate their two top scorers from a year ago inΒ Kiana PalaciosΒ andΒ Noel Baham, the Big West Midfielder and Big West Offensive Player of the Year, respectively. Each scored six goals and accounted for three game-winners and 11 assists between them. The attacking presence will be dotted with veterans pieces such as juniorsΒ Lili Andino,Β Jessica Miclat,Β Carley Brown, andΒ Claire Grouwinkel
Opposing Views
The Anteater non-conference schedule is as beefy as ever. The United Soccer Coaches rankings were unveiled Tuesday, and from it two Anteater opponents were issued top-25 status starting with UCI's season-opening guest, USC, at No. 12. Pepperdine starts the year at No. 18 as the 'Eaters will travel to them later in September. One other opponent was receiving votes landing it just outside the top 25 in Arizona, and that could change after the first weekend of play.Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β
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