Game Notes

Utah Valley Wolverines at UC Irvine Anteaters
Friday, Aug. 31, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

James Madison Dukes at UC Irvine Anteaters
Sunday, Sep. 2, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

Storylines
• The 'Eaters start unbeaten in its first two matches for the first time since 2014 going 1-0-1
• The Anteater defense pitched a pair of shutouts, first instance of that to start a season since 2012
• Alvaro Quezada scored his second career game-winner to drop UCF in OT, the first OT winner for UCI since 2014 vs. Stanford
• Greg Patenaude served up his first two career shutouts setting a new single-game high in saves each time. He stopped a potential game-winning penalty kick in the 100th minute against USD preserving the draw
• UC Irvine opened the week with 18 votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll
  
About Utah Valley
• The Wolverines are 2-0 coming off a pair of 4-0 victories at home over Evansville and Florida Atlantic. They also played an exhibition match falling to Gonzaga, 2-1
• The 2017 Wolverines struggled to a 6-10-2 record despite wins over No. 13 Akron, Cal State Fullerton, and a draw with No. 12 Air Force. The WAC Preseason poll projected UVU to finish fifth among the 12 programs in the WAC
• Utah Valley lost its top three scorers from a year ago, but already have a pair of goals each from senior Austin Buxton, junior Blake Frischknecht, and sophomore Zach Maas. Sophomore Joseph Wheelwright has had to make just three saves in net
 
About James Madison
• The Dukes hosted an invitational to open 2018 defeating Gardner-Webb, 4-0, before falling to Air Force, 1-0, on an overtime strike in the 109th minute after JMU were down to 10 men for the final 11 minutes of play
• The 2017 squad finished at 9-7-3 and won the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title with a mark of 5-1-2. The CAA Preseason poll has the Dukes finishing third, and junior midfielder Manuel Ferriol earned Preseason All-CAA consideration
• JMU is transitioning to head coach Paul Zazenski, an assistant that stepped in after the previous head coach's departure. Sophomore Carson Jeffris and Swiss junior Tim Estermann each had two-goal matches in the opener. Sophomore keeper TJ Bush has made eight saves to date allowing just the one goal, an overtime-winner to Air Force in the 109th minute
 
With a win...
• ...or draw over Utah Valley, the 'Eaters would extend their streak to 14 straight unbeaten in home openers
• ...or draw over Utah Valley, UCI would go to 2-0 all-time against the Wolverines
• ...or draw over JMU, the 'Eaters would win the inaugural match in the history of the two programs
• ...or draw in both matchups, UCI would eclipse the longest unbeaten streak it had in 2017 of four matches

Up Next
• UC Irvine finishes its short homestand with a Friday night matchup against LMU at 7:00 p.m. before setting out on a brief swing to San Diego State for a Sunday evening matchup with the Aztecs
 
Shades of Sperber
UC Irvine had gone awhile - 13 matches to be exact - since winning its last overtime match. That win came in the form of a 2014 NCAA Second Round defeat of No. 1 Stanford, 1-0, scored by Michael Sperber. Alvaro Quezada's winner in the 93rd minute (just like Sperber's goal) was the second game-winner of his career, and snapped a 0-3-9 string that UCI had amassed over its last 12 overtime matches. It was the first overtime match for UCI that had a decision other than a tie since 2015, a string of five overtime contests.
 
Pat on the Back
Redshirt senior keeper Greg Patenaude has shutout his opponents through the first two matches building a streak of 271 shutout minutes dating back to last season. The shutouts are the first two in his career, and in each match he set new single-game highs in saves with four vs. USD and five vs. UCF. He even made a game-winning stop of a penalty kick in the 100th minute vs. USD, his second career PK save in just five matches
 
First Touches
• Over the weekend, five Anteaters made their debut for UCI, three of which also made their collegiate debut
• Jalani Ambrose and Darren Hamilton each earned a couple of clean sheets in their first runs with the Anteaters. Ambrose even added his first career point, an assist on Quezada's game-winner
• Michael Orozco, Axel Adler, and Ben Reveno each opened up their Anteater accounts with their first appearances. Orozco got the start in each match playing all 203 minutes. Adler came in off the bench in each contest totaling 26 minutes. Reveno put in 16 minutes off the bench in the opener at San Diego
• Much like Reveno and Adler who redshirted last season, the likes of Christian Gutierrez and Manny Acosta returned to the field after redshirting in 2017. Acosta came on for 21 minutes at UCF while Gutierrez, who had been sidelined by an ACL injury, played in each match totaling 51 minutes which included at least one shot
• Sophomore Lawrence Yamaguchi made his first career start playing up top Friday at San Diego
 
Zeroing In
Surprisingly, even with the 1-0-1 start to the season, 2018 now stands as the second-latest the opening goal of the season was scored with Quezada's winner coming 203 minutes in. The longest drought to open a season still stands with the 1993 Anteaters who were shutout through the first two matches before scoring 25 minutes into their third match spanning 205 minutes. On the flip side, the 'Eaters have shutout opponents for 203 minutes to start the season which is the sixth-longest all-time to start a season. A shutout Friday would jump the streak to the third and possibly second-longest stretch
 
Coach's Corner
Yossi Raz on Greg's early performance: "Greg is a fifth-year senior who has a lot of quality soccer under his belt. He gives our backline comfort and security, and he does it in a nice way. I feel like he's matured tremendously with his mannerisms and becoming a leader of the team, and we're very excited about what he's done and looking forward to him continuing to lead us in the right direction."
 
On the weekend ahead in the first two home matches: "It's more challenges ahead - different approaches, different stylistic gameplans that we need to focus on, and they're coming to Irvine and Anteater Stadium. We're excited to show the fans our squad, and we want to perform well for them and the UC Irvine community."
 
Opening Statements
UC Irvine now stands at 22-9-4 all-time in season openers, 2-3-1 when opening on the road. UCI currently has a string of 13 straight unbeaten in home openers (12-0-1) dating back to 2004
 
Voter Turnout
UC Irvine earned 18 votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll after last week's results The 'Eaters have not landed in the top 25 since 2015, but do hold a 20-25-6 all-time record against ranked opponents
 
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.

Playing Professionally
• UC Irvine has 11 Anteaters making a mark on various professional circuits
• Two MLS staples continue to be Miguel Ibarra and Brad Evans. Ibarra is in his seventh pro season where he's earned 152 caps between Minnesota United FC and Leon of LigaMX. In his sixth season with MLS-side MNUFC, he has six goals upping the midfielder's career total to 27. Evans has bounced between Sporting KC and its USL side, Swope Park Rangers, seeing action in four matches total. He's played 226 matches and 28 goals in his 11 professional seasons largely with Seattle Sounders FC and Columbus Crew SC winning an MLS title with each
• The pair also account for all of the national team appearances for UCI alums. Evans took part in 27 World Cup qualifiers, Gold Cup, Confederations Cup, and friendly matches scoring an infamous goal in stoppage time of an WCQ to defeat Jamaica. Ibarra has three caps under his belt, all in U.S. friendlies.
• Five Anteaters resides with USL clubs, most prominently Cam Iwasa as one of the league's leading scorers on Sac Republic FC scoring 27 times over four seasons. Marco Franco has joined with Penn FC while Thomas Janjigian is on the backline for Reno 1868. Mats Bjurman and Giovanni Godoy have teamed up on local side Orange County SC scoring seven goals between them this season
• Others still making waves Enrique Cardenas, playing with Golden State Force FC when he's not coaching at College of the Desert, Lester Hayes III and Amani Walker, each playing with at times with NPSL side Albion SC Pros SD, and Irving Garcia is still extending his career going on sixth overall as a professional and second year now with Guatemalan side, Suchitepequez.
 
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 20-25-6 all-time against ranked foes

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.