UC Irvine women's soccer opens the 2018 season Thursday night in Anteater Stadium at 7:00 p.m. with a visit from No. 12 USC  
Storylines
• 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
• UC Irvine was 1 of 2 programs (UC Riverside) without a player voted on the Preseason All-Big West squad
• 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
• The 'Eaters return two from the 2017 All-Big West squad - forward Claire Grouwinkel earned All-Freshman Team honors while Maddie Newsom scored Honorable Mention for the second straight season
• Head Coach Scott Juniper returns after earning his second Big West Coach of the Year honor
 
2017 Highlights
• UC Irvine claimed its third Big West regular season title joining the 2010 and 2011 squads
• Last season marked the eighth time in 11 seasons under head coach Scott Juniper that the Anteaters have finished with a winning record and seventh time with at least 10 wins
• The Anteaters were responsible for the Big West's Offensive Player of the Year (Noel Baham) and Midfielder of the Year (Kiana Palacios)
• 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
• Coach Juniper became the program's winningest head coach when he won his 114th career match over Oregon, 1-0
 
About USC
• The Trojans finished the 2017 season second in the Pac-12 going 15-3-2 reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament
• USC finished the 2017 season ranked 13th, and moved up one spot to No. 12 in the United Soccer Coaches poll to begin 2018
• The Trojans were picked to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason poll
• USC hosts two MAC Hermann Award watch list players in senior Ally Prisock and redshirt sophomore Savannah DeMelo
• USC squared off with UC Davis in an exhibition match over the weekend coming away with a 4-0 victory
• The Anteaters and Trojans battled in an exhibition match to open 2017 finishing in a 0-0 draw
 
With A Win...
• The Anteaters would even their all-time record at 16-16-3 on season openers
• UCI would win its second straight home opener after beating Fairfield, 4-2, in 2016
• It would mark the second all-time win against USC (3-0, 1994 at home)
• It would be the first season opening win against USC. UCI is 0-2 after losses to open the 1999 and 2000 seasons
 
Up Next
• UC Irvine is back in Anteater Stadium next Thursday to face Arizona at 7:00 p.m., the second of four home matches to open the season
 
Season Openers
The Anteaters have struggled to open the season of late winning once since 2012 which came in 2016 dropping Fairfield at home. UCI is 7-7-1 all-time when opening the season at Anteater Stadium. It won six straight season openers from 1993-98. This is the fifth home season opener in the program's last seven seasons
 
Count It
UCI played a tune-up match last weekend 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 a Claire Grouwinkel 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

Crowded At The Top
The 'Eaters brought it two crowds of over 1,000 fans to see a win over San Francisco and a draw against Long Beach State. The crowds were the seventh and eighth to reach 1,000 in program history and the third time UCI has had multiple crowds of 1,000+ fans. The other two seasons also brought Big West titles in 2010 and 2011.

Rank Calls
UC Irvine opens the season with a meeting against No. 12 USC. It marks the third time UCI has opened a season squaring off with a ranked foe - UCI fell to No. 10 Santa Clara, 2-0, to open the 2014 season, and the year prior UCI slipped to No. 21 Cal, 3-1, in Anteater Stadium. UCI has taken on 13 ranked opponents in its history going 6-7-0 against them. Six ranked opponents have shown up on the season's opening weekend for the 'Eaters
 
Keep It 400
After dropping the opener in 2017, the Anteaters went unbeaten for seven straight games going 4-0-3. The streak included a shutout streak of 451 minutes, the fourth streak all-time to reach 400 minutes.
 
Top of the Heap
Head Coach Scott Juniper 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.

What's Missing?
The Anteaters graduate their two top scorers from a year ago in Kiana Palacios and 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 juniors Lili Andino, Jessica Miclat, Carley Brown, and Claire Grouwinkel

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 of Aleah Kelley, Reema Bzeih, and Maddie Newsom. Kelley led the team in minutes a year ago while Bzeih added to her breakout sophomore season with five more assists, and Maddie Newsom continues to be the class of the Big West in net posting eight shutouts in each of her first two seasons

Triumphant Returns
The Anteaters get a big boost in key areas by the returns of seniors Alex Karlowitsch and Jonnae Joseph. Karlowitsch 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

She'll Be Back
Shelby Lee 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 does the Future Hold?
Coach Juniper has brought in 15 newcomers to the squad this season, 13 of which are freshman. Alex Jaquez and Scarlett Camberos have risen through the ranks quickly looking to earn some minutes as forwards. Midfielders earning some looks have been Amber Huff 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 of Piper Wurth. Maddie Newsom's grip on the keeper spot is formidable, but the competition for second-in-line is white-hot between senior Idalis Gonzalez, third-year Madi Puliafico, and freshman Glo Hinojosa.

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.