Season Gets Underway with Long Weekend at San Diego, UCF

Friday, August 24

San Diego, CA

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

San Diego

Season Gets Underway with Long Weekend at San Diego, UCF

August 21, 2018 | Men's Soccer

By: Alex Croteau

The 'Eaters split preseason exhibition matches, and now begin the games that count traveling to San Diego and Orlando to start off the second year of head coach Yossi Raz and company

UC Irvine Anteaters at San Diego Toreros
Friday, Aug. 24, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Torero Stadium - San Diego, Calif.
Video | Live Stats

UC Irvine Anteaters at UCF Knights
Monday, Aug. 27, 2018 - 4:00 PM
UCF Track and Soccer Complex - Orlando, Fla.
Video ($) | Live Stats

Storylines
• The Big West returns to one division where each program will play the other once with UC Irvine projected to finish fifth
• Three All-Big West honorees return including three-time selection Ivan Canales and first-timers Daniel Crisostomo and Jose Soto. Crisostomo and Canales represented the 'Eaters on the preseason all-conference squad this season
• Transfers Jalani Ambrose (Santa Clara) and Darren Hamilton (Hartwick) add to the mix looking to make instant impacts

2017-18 Highlights
• UCI returned to a .500 campaign in 2017 after consecutive five-win years
• The Anteaters led the conference in scoring in the regular season with 35 goals led by conference-leader Giovanni Godoy's 13. They also put up a Big West-best 41 assists, its most since the 2010 campaign, with Daniel Crisostomo and Mario Ortiz topping the conference with nine each
• UCI took down one of its two ranked opponents in 2017 defeating No. 8 Denver, 1-0, on a neutral site. It also took No. 9 Louisville to the wire on the road as the 'Eaters stand 20-24-6 all-time against ranked foes

About San Diego
• The Toreros are coming off an 8-6-3 campaign under first-year head coach Brian Quinn in 2017 along with a 2-3-2 WCC record
• The 2018 Preseason WCC poll projects USD to finish fourth alongside San Francisco. The Toreros return eight starters including three preseason all-conference squad like juniors Miguel Berry and Henry Lander and 2017 Freshman of the Year Aaron Frey
• USD opens the season with UCI, the first matchup between the squads since 2015 when the squads drew at San Diego. USD leads the all-time series 18-7-1, but the 'Eaters have not lost in five straight going 4-0-1
• The Toreros pounded out a 9-0 exhibition victory against junior college Arizona Western that saw a 50-5 USD shot advantage

About UCF
• The Knights went 8-6-2 last season which included an eight-match unbeaten streak
• UCF graduates the conference offensive player of the year, but returns five all-conference honorees including three preseason selections to the All-AAC squad Cal Jennings, Yoni Sorokin, and Andreas Steineger for the squad picked to finish first
• UCI and UCF are meeting for the first time. UCF won each of its exhibition matches, 4-1 over Eastern Florida and 1-0 over FAU

With a win...
• The Anteaters would improve to 23-9-3 all-time in season openers and earn its third win in sixth game opening on the road
• UCI improves to 4-0 all-time vs. USD in season openers - home wins in 1988 and 2011, road win in 2012
• It would be UCI's first win in the state of Florida and against a Florida school since 2011 vs. FGCU on a neutral site

Up Next
• UCI opens its home slate Friday, Aug. 31 vs. Utah Valley starting a three-game homestand in Anteater Stadium

Season Openers
UC Irvine is opening its 35th season and holds a record of 22-9-3. The 'Eaters had won 11 straight openers before 2016 and have now dropped its last two openers, both to ranked squads. UCI opens on the road for the third straight season, and is 2-3 all-time including their last win to open the season on the road in 2012 at USD.

Exhibiting Quality
UC Irvine took to the pitch twice last week for exhibition matches starting at home Thursday defeating Bakersfield, 2-0. Ivan Canales and Axel Adler scored first-half strikes. They finished up Sunday with a trip to UCLA for the first men's soccer match in newly-constructed Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The Bruins, who are receiving votes in the national preseason poll, would take the victory scoring in the 71st minute to defeat UCI, 1-0.

Florida Flight
The 'Eaters begin the season with a trek to the state of Florida for the second time ever for a just-as-rare Monday night matchup with American Athletic Conference preseason projected champion UCF. UCI's other trip came in 2011 as it took on Florida Gulf Coast and South Florida splitting the trip. All-time, UCI is 3-3 against Florida schools dropping matches to USF and Florida International in their only meetings, taking two home matches from North Florida, and splitting with Florida Gulf Coast.

Rank Calls
The Anteaters got back into old habits squaring off with a pair of ranked opponents in 2017 falling at No. 9 Louisville before earning an upset over No. 8 Denver. The 'Eaters had gone two years without a ranked opponent before 2017, but stand with a 20-24-6 mark all-time against ranked programs

Trending Up
UC Irvine's 8-8-3 campaign and fourth place finish in the Big West South in 2017 doesn't jump off the page, but its a move in the right direction after back-to-back five-win seasons in 2015 and 2016. The goals rose with the results with the team scoring 35 goals, up from 20 in 2016 and 23 in 2015. The Anteaters also dropped 41 assists on those goals last season, its most since 2010's total of 42 assists.

Back for More
Here for his second season as the head coach of the Anteaters is Yossi Raz. He made great strides within his first two years as the head of Cal Poly Pomona taking a program that won three matches prior to his arrival, pushed them to a 7-7-3 mark in his first go, and jumped to a 17-1-2 record in his second season leading to a national title appearance by his third year.

What's Missing?
The right foot of Giovanni Godoy is the largest omission from the 2018 Anteaters after the reigning Big West Offensive Player of the Year graduated and is now playing alongside 'Eater alum Mats Bjurman on Orange County SC. His conference-leading 13 goals accounted for 37% of UC Irvine's production including half of the squad's eight game-winning goals.

Senior Step-Up
The Anteater core in 2018 will be strongly represented by senior leadership of Ivan Canales, Daniel Crisostomo, and Luis Leon. Canales returns following a third All-Big West selection, the midfielder centerpiece has a new number and an edge and the attacking leader going forward. Crisostomo is one of the nation's leading returners in assists after dishing out nine as a junior. Over the summer, he continued to add to his resume in the midfield playing for Orange County FC and was named to the National XI for the season of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL). Leon has rode a consistent offensive ledger accounting for multiple goals and at least six points in each of his first three years as an Anteater.

Second-Year Sensations
The Anteaters got positive dividends from its new crop of transfers a year ago with a steady hand in the midfield from Victor Falck, and also on the backline, Jose Soto stood above the rest earning an All-Big West selection. Impactful freshmen Alvaro Quezada and Lawrence Yamaguchi fit right in to coach Raz's mentality, and will be prime figures to keep the scoring at a high level for the 'Eaters

Chon Zone
Another hefty absence will be the skillful frame of Mario Ortiz who contribute nine assists a year ago, but another Ortiz, Jose, is primed to join the scoring barrage. He's contributed five goals to this point in his career including three as a sophomore

Keeper's Corner
The healthiest competition on the squad could come between the posts with senior Greg Patenaude and junior Alex Waldron each coming in with an experienced hand. Patenaude finished the 2017 season as the No. 1 guy scoring a pair of wins in the final three matches. Waldron played half of the matches in his first year, and them rolled through a majority of his sophomore campaign atop the depth chart putting together nine wins and five shutouts across the seasons. The two will likely each see time through the exhibition matches.

What does the Future Hold?
The recently-revealed nine newcomers joining the squad in 2018 for coach Raz features some very veteran talent. Three transfers enter the fray with two in line to be big parts of the 2018 plans. Senior back Darren Hamilton has commanded backlines on the junior college and Division I levels, and will provide a huge boost to pair with Soto. Jalani Ambrose has a couple of years experience from Santa Clara skating down the wings and being thrust into a defensive role. In addition to the vets, the 'Eaters bring on six freshmen that could be called upon with an abbreviated roster of 25 players at coach Raz's disposal. The likes of Axel Adler and Ben Reveno who will make their first steps onto an Anteater pitch, and the returns of redshirts Manny Acosta and Christian "GunGun" Gutierrez will also be felt in the formation

Opposing Views
UC Irvine's collective schedule might not be so daunting from first glance, but a lot of postseason experience lays in waiting for the Anteaters with squads like Pacific and San Francisco coming off tourney appearances last year. Others have been successful elsewhere such as UCF projected to win the American Athletic Conference in the preseason, James Madison the reigning Colonial Athletic Association regular season champs, and Brown finish third a year ago in a highly-competitive Ivy League. In addition, five Anteater opponents have earned votes in the United Soccer Coaches preseason rankings which includes Sunday's opponent, UCLA.