Game Notes

Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens at UC Irvine Anteaters
Friday, Sep. 14, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

Brown Bears at UC Irvine Anteaters
Sunday, Sep. 16, 2018 - 1:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live Stats | Tickets | Game Program

Storylines
• UC Irvine is 1 of 3 Big West squads that hold a winning record through the first two weekends of play
• Ivan Canales scored the game-winner in the 104th minute Sunday night to complete the comeback in a 2-1 victory over JMU
• The Anteaters played a man down for the final 73 minutes of Sunday's match, and overcame a 1-0 deficit in the 52nd minute
• The 'Eaters also suffered a loss on Friday after taking the lead in the 29th minute against Utah Valley, but allowing a pair of second half goals including an own goal for a 2-1 loss
• Jose Ortiz  took the team lead in points and goals scoring in each game over the past week
  
About Pomona-Pitzer
• The Sagehens play on the Division III level, and are 3-2-0 so far this season with two conference wins.
• Pomona-Pitzer head Bill Swartz has been the program's head coach since 1986 winning 406 games. He even took a year to coach with the Tottenham Hotspur organization in the English Premier League in 2013.
• The connection to the Anteaters lies in the coaching staff where former Anteater assistant Mike Ditta is the associate head coach for the Sagehens
• Eight different Sagehens have accounted for their nine goals this season with sophomore Daniel Tamkin scoring twice, sophomore defender Peter Heckendorn has a goal and assist while leading the team in shots, and sophomore keeper Bryan Diangson has 20 saves and all three wins in net allowing four goals in four games
 
About Brown
• The Brown Bears have just three matches under their belts so far going 2-1-0, all at home, defeating Bryant and George Washington. The Bears matchup with San Diego State Friday night before heading to Irvine
• The 2017 squad finished with an 8-6-3 mark, its fourth-straight non-losing season. Brown was projected to finish third in the 2018 Ivy League trailing favorites Dartmouth and Columbia
• Junior Daniel Schiller has three goals, one in each match early on in the season, to go with an assist, the defensive quartet of Jackson Goebel, Gabe Welp, Will Crain, and Will Mims have played nearly every minute through the three matches, and freshman keeper James Swomley has reaped the benefits needing to save just four shots
 
With a win...
• ...UC Irvine will record the 300th win in the program's history
• ...over Pomona-Pitzer, UCI would improve to 10-4-0 all-time against SCIAC opponents having faced Cal Lutheran, Redlands, and Chapman previously with the last matchup coming in 1998
• ...or draw vs. Brown, UCI would remain unbeaten against the Ivy League having drawn with Brown and defeated Princeton
 
Up Next
• The 'Eaters will finish up non-conference play with three straight road matchups starting Thursday, Sep. 20 at San Francisco followed by matches at Pacific and Saint Mary's
 
Legacy Matchup
UC Irvine and Brown are not completely unfamiliar with each other. The schools met on Sep. 23, 2007 on a neutral site in San Diego with UCI ranked 21st and Brown ranked ninth at the time. After a scoreless first half, Brown scored twice to take a 2-0 lead, and UCI scratched back with a pair of penalty kick goals to force overtime and a 2-2 draw. The only other matchup with an Ivy League school was a 2009 victory over Princeton
 
Keeping the Faith
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Greg Patenaude has made a mark as the starter in 2018. Among the Big West leaders, he stands second with a 0.78 GAA and among the top five in saves (16), save percentage (.762) and least goals allowed (5). He's put his foot into the national picture standing ranking eighth with his three shutouts which is tied for the conference lead, he falls within the top 100 in saves (71st) and goals-against-average (48th) all while played the third-most minutes in the nation at 578:32.
 
Cool Customers
Yes the 'Eaters do have a red card this season, but in terms of yellow cards, the 'Eaters have accrued just two which is the least in the nation alongside VCU, Army West Point, Brown, Cornell, and Charlotte who have all played at least two matches less than UCI. UCI's 0.33 cards per match is lowest in all the NCAA. The 'Eaters have committed 13.17 fouls per match which is third-least in the Big West
 
First Touches
• UC Irvine was without its senior center back Darren Hamilton Friday after incurring a red card in the match against James Madison. In steps redshirt freshman Ben Reveno to the backline making his first career start in hi third career match and serving up a clean sheet.
• Senior Daniel Crisostomo was held out of Friday's match against LMU snapping his streak of 23 consecutive starts and 41 consecutive matches he's played in. Ateno Ajeakwa replaced him in the lineup for his third career start
• Jalani Ambrose added his third assist on Friday's game-deciding goal tying him atop the Big West
• Lawrence Yamaguchi had an assist added to Alvaro Quezada's goal on Sunday giving him his first career point
• UCI leads the conference with 69 shots which ranks second per game (11.5). Alvaro Quezada leads the charge with a conference-high 17 shots
• The Anteaters' weekend was part of the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Aztec Soccer Tournament where it finished 1-1. Ivan Canales and Jose Soto were named to the all-tournament team
 
Top Dog
Senior Ivan Canales continued his impressive run as an Anteater scoring his fifth career game-winner Friday coming off his game-winner in the previous match vs. JMU. He added an assist on UCI's second goal to give him 50 career points. He added another assist on Sunday, his 17th in his career to put him into the top 10 in Anteater history
 
Starting a Trend
Junior Jose Ortiz extended his scoring streak to three straight matches with his tally against LMU, the first for UCI since 2016. Currently, Ivan Canales has a point in three straight with two goals and two assists in those matches
 
Opening Statements
UC Irvine now stands at 22-9-4 all-time in season openers, 2-3-1 when opening on the road. UCI fell in its home opener Friday, 2-1 to Utah Valley, to snap its streak of 13 straight unbeaten home openers that dated back to 2004.
 
Voter Turnout
UC Irvine earned 20 votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll last week, up from 18 in the previous poll. Poll results are released every Tuesday. 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.
• Six 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. Tarek Morad also joined up with USL side Tampa Bay Rowdies recently after a few years with Louisville City FC
• 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.