Friday, September 28
Irvine, CA
7:00 PM
UC Irvine
vs
Hawai'i
Photo by: Jenny Chuang
Big West Play Opens at Home on ESPN3 with Hawai'i
September 24, 2018 | Women's Soccer
UC Irvine starts conference play trending up with a pair of high-octane wins over the weekend as it squares off under the lights of Anteater Stadium and ESPN3 against Hawai'i
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Coach Juniper Interview
with Patty La Bella of Women's World Football Show podcast
(skip ahead to Coach Juniper at 1-hour, 25-minute mark)
Hawai'i Rainbow Wahine atΒ UC Irvine Anteaters
Friday, Sep. 28, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live StatsΒ | ESPN3Β | Tickets | Game Program
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Friday, Sep. 28, 2018 - 7:00 PM
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif.
Live StatsΒ | ESPN3Β | Tickets | Game Program
Storylines
β’ Claire Grouwinkel entered the weekend with two career goals and came away with four goals over two matches, all after coming off the bench, scoring twice each in wins over San Francisco and San Diego
β’ Grouwinkel's four-goal week earned her Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors, the first of her career and first for the program in 2018 after taking the honor home four times in 2017
β’ Maddie Newsom made 15 saves over the weekend including nine in Sunday's win to tie a career high. Friday's win was highlighted by a pair of penalty kick saves for the junior coming in the 41st and 88th minutes
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About Hawai'i
β’ The Rainbow Wahine enter Big West play with a winning record of 5-3-1 defeating teams like Saint Mary's, Pacific, and Grand Canyon while dropping contests to Texas A&M, San Francisco, and UC San Diego. Hawai'I makes its third trip off the island this season to face the Anteaters, and so far UH is 2-1-1 on those road trips
β’ Hawai'i finished 2017 with a 6-10-1 mark, but had just one win (UCSB) and one draw (Cal Poly) in Big West action. UCI battled on the island for a 3-2 victory, and have now won three straight matches against the Rainbow Wahine
β’ UH boasts two of the conference's top three scorers in 13 points from Leialoha Medeiros and 12 points from Raisa Strom-Okimoto both putting home five goals and two game-winners, the preseason All-Big West selection and one-time offensive player of the week Strom-Okimoto also stands second in the conference in shots per game (3.22), and junior keeper Alexis Mata just earned her second Big West Defensive Player of the Week award this season as she stands second in the Big West in saves per game (5.67), shutouts (4), and rocks a 1.06 goals-against-average
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Scouting the Big West
β’ The conference as a whole finished with a record of 40-39-11 in non-conference action in 2018
β’ The Big West features 1 of 9 undefeated squad in the nation with UC Riverside going 9-0-1
β’ Cal Poly is the only Big West program that did not collect a win, 1 of 11 schools in the nation still searching for one, at 0-8-3
β’ The projection preseason champion Long Beach State is 5-4-1 through the early going with the highest RPI of a Big West school so far (49) as it was battle-tested against ranked foes UCLA, Texas, Auburn, and USC
β’ Other respectable RPIs so far have UCR at 51, Hawai'i at 85, and UCSB at 116 just ahead of UC Irvine (120). The highest RPI opponent UCI faced was USC (16) losing to them 1-0, the highest RPI win came against San Francisco (64)
β’ The Big West offensive leader is UC Santa Barbara with 2.0 goals per match. The conference's goals leader, Shaelan Murison, comes from UCSB with seven along with her Big West-leading 17 points and 40 shots
β’ Defensively, UC Riverside has allowed just one goal in 10 matches leading it to an NCAA-best shutout percentage. Annie Bailey has been in net for eight of those matches and six of those shutouts stopping 28 shots. CSUN's Amanda Delgado (0.72) and UCSB's Natalie Hill (0.89) each have GAAs under 1.00 as well. Cal Poly's Sophia Brown leads with 63 saves and 5.7 per match
β’ UC Irvine is 1 of 23 programs yet to record a shutout on the year. Across the conference, UCI is seventh in scoring per game (1.1) and goals against average (1.35), ninth in shots per game (10.7), seventh in fouls per game (11.6), and sixth in drawing corners (3.9 per game) while averaging one yellow card per contest
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With a win...
β’ ...or draw, UCI would run its streak to four straight unbeaten against Hawai'i having won its last three in the series
β’ ...UCI would improve to 4-1-0 in home contests shown on ESPN3. All-time in Big West ESPN3 broadcasts, it would put UCI at a 4-3-1 all-time mark
Up Next
β’ UC Irvine finishes up its four-match homestand with two more pivotal Big West opponents coming to Anteater Stadium starting with UC Santa Barbara, Friday, Oct. 5, and followed by Cal Poly, Sunday, Oct. 7
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All Eyes On Me
β’ The Anteaters were selected as 1 of 2 ESPN3 broadcasts last week in the Big West. UC Irvine's matchup in Anteater Stadium on Friday, Sep. 28 against Hawai'i will be shown on ESPN3 in accordance with Big West Productions
β’ The matchup will mark the fifth straight season Anteater Stadium has hosted an ESPN3 broadcast with the 'Eaters 3-1-0 in the previous four contests
β’ UCI has also been featured on ESPN3 broadcasts three times as part of the Big West Tournament where it is 0-2-1 in those matches moving on in a penalty shootout in 2016
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Breaking News-om
β’ Maddie Newsom dominated in net over the weekend with 15 saves including nine in Sunday's win to tie a career high
β’ Two of Newsom's saves were on penalty attempts in the Friday night win over San Francisco. Newsom now has three PK saves all-time joining her stop against UC Davis in the 89th minute last season in a 1-0 loss at home, the last ESPN3 broadcast in Anteater Stadium
β’ Newsom's two wins give her 27 on her career, tied for the fourth-most in program history alongside Jenn Randazzo. A win this week will jump her to a tie with Kirsten Roy at 28 each and third in the program's history
β’ Newsom surpassed Randazzo in the saves category over the weekend as she's also hurdled Erin Henry, Sarah Swancutt, Janice Taft, and Allison Merrick this season to put her in a tie for fifth all-time with Amee Chapman totaling 180 career saves. Just ahead of them in Marissa Welliver with 187 career saves as Newsom is on pace to be the 'Eaters' fourth keeper all-time with 200 career saves
β’ Newsom also joined the 50-match club back on Sep. 16 in the match at Pepperdine. She is among the 73 Anteaters with at least 50 matches played, and she's started all of them making her the 43rd Anteaters with 50+ starts
β’ Lost in Newsom's defensive effort was her assist on Grouwinkel's first goal in Sunday's win. It's the first assist and point for the junior keeper and the first for any Anteater keeper since the season opener, Aug. 20, 2010, when Danielle de Seriere assisted on UCI's winner in a 2-1 victory over Idaho
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Numerology
β’ Claire Grouwinkel registered her first two multi-goal games in her career against USF and USD. 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’ Grouwinkel fell short each time of a hat trick, something UCI hasn't had since 2011 when Lexi Kopf and Natalia Ledezma each had one in consecutive weeks. The program has seen 14 hat tricks over its history including one 4-goal game
β’ Alex Karlowitsch starred at setting Grouwinkel up recording a pair of assists Sunday. Since 2014, Anteaters have registered two assists in a game 17 times with six coming from current Anteaters led by Karlowitsch's three (2014 at UCD, 2016 vs. Pitt), Reema Bzeih's two (2016 vs. CP, 2017 vs. Toledo), and Shelby Lee last year vs. UC Riverside. For Karlowitsch, she moves into a tie for eighth in program history with Natalia Ledezma registering 15 career assists each
β’ The goal scored by McDaniel 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 defenders
β’ Lili Andino came through with a spectacular free kick goal on Friday. She now leads the team and is third in the Big West with a pair of game-winning goals, now with three in her career
β’ UC Irvine opened the season with a loss at the hands of No. 12 USC. UCI is now 0-3 against ranked opponents to open a season, 0-2 in Anteater Stadium.
β’Β UCI stands at 6-8-0 all-time against ranked opponents.
Match Making
β’ Graduate senior Reema Bzeih played her 50th match with the Anteaters at Pepperdine, the 72nd player in program history. It was also her 50th career start, the 42nd 'Eater to reach 50 starts. In her career, she's played 61 matches starting 59 between UC Irvine and UCLA
β’ Kelsee Pottorff was the newest 'Eaters to reach 50 career match doing so as a sub in Sunday's win at home over San Diego. Over her career, she's started six times and earned two points, both on assists
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
β’ The Anteaters starting XI has fluctuated, but two 'Eaters have been part of all 10 starting lineups in 2018: Maddie Newsom, Reema Bzeih. A total of 10 Anteaters have been inserted into all 10 matches this season with three (Newsom, Aleah Kelley, Kala McDaniel) each reaching the 800-minute plateau
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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 two matches against Malaga (68') and Logroño (54')
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. The second leg will be played Thursday, Sep. 27
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’ Claire Grouwinkel entered the weekend with two career goals and came away with four goals over two matches, all after coming off the bench, scoring twice each in wins over San Francisco and San Diego
β’ Grouwinkel's four-goal week earned her Big West Offensive Player of the Week honors, the first of her career and first for the program in 2018 after taking the honor home four times in 2017
β’ Maddie Newsom made 15 saves over the weekend including nine in Sunday's win to tie a career high. Friday's win was highlighted by a pair of penalty kick saves for the junior coming in the 41st and 88th minutes
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About Hawai'i
β’ The Rainbow Wahine enter Big West play with a winning record of 5-3-1 defeating teams like Saint Mary's, Pacific, and Grand Canyon while dropping contests to Texas A&M, San Francisco, and UC San Diego. Hawai'I makes its third trip off the island this season to face the Anteaters, and so far UH is 2-1-1 on those road trips
β’ Hawai'i finished 2017 with a 6-10-1 mark, but had just one win (UCSB) and one draw (Cal Poly) in Big West action. UCI battled on the island for a 3-2 victory, and have now won three straight matches against the Rainbow Wahine
β’ UH boasts two of the conference's top three scorers in 13 points from Leialoha Medeiros and 12 points from Raisa Strom-Okimoto both putting home five goals and two game-winners, the preseason All-Big West selection and one-time offensive player of the week Strom-Okimoto also stands second in the conference in shots per game (3.22), and junior keeper Alexis Mata just earned her second Big West Defensive Player of the Week award this season as she stands second in the Big West in saves per game (5.67), shutouts (4), and rocks a 1.06 goals-against-average
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Scouting the Big West
β’ The conference as a whole finished with a record of 40-39-11 in non-conference action in 2018
β’ The Big West features 1 of 9 undefeated squad in the nation with UC Riverside going 9-0-1
β’ Cal Poly is the only Big West program that did not collect a win, 1 of 11 schools in the nation still searching for one, at 0-8-3
β’ The projection preseason champion Long Beach State is 5-4-1 through the early going with the highest RPI of a Big West school so far (49) as it was battle-tested against ranked foes UCLA, Texas, Auburn, and USC
β’ Other respectable RPIs so far have UCR at 51, Hawai'i at 85, and UCSB at 116 just ahead of UC Irvine (120). The highest RPI opponent UCI faced was USC (16) losing to them 1-0, the highest RPI win came against San Francisco (64)
β’ The Big West offensive leader is UC Santa Barbara with 2.0 goals per match. The conference's goals leader, Shaelan Murison, comes from UCSB with seven along with her Big West-leading 17 points and 40 shots
β’ Defensively, UC Riverside has allowed just one goal in 10 matches leading it to an NCAA-best shutout percentage. Annie Bailey has been in net for eight of those matches and six of those shutouts stopping 28 shots. CSUN's Amanda Delgado (0.72) and UCSB's Natalie Hill (0.89) each have GAAs under 1.00 as well. Cal Poly's Sophia Brown leads with 63 saves and 5.7 per match
β’ UC Irvine is 1 of 23 programs yet to record a shutout on the year. Across the conference, UCI is seventh in scoring per game (1.1) and goals against average (1.35), ninth in shots per game (10.7), seventh in fouls per game (11.6), and sixth in drawing corners (3.9 per game) while averaging one yellow card per contest
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With a win...
β’ ...or draw, UCI would run its streak to four straight unbeaten against Hawai'i having won its last three in the series
β’ ...UCI would improve to 4-1-0 in home contests shown on ESPN3. All-time in Big West ESPN3 broadcasts, it would put UCI at a 4-3-1 all-time mark
Up Next
β’ UC Irvine finishes up its four-match homestand with two more pivotal Big West opponents coming to Anteater Stadium starting with UC Santa Barbara, Friday, Oct. 5, and followed by Cal Poly, Sunday, Oct. 7
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All Eyes On Me
β’ The Anteaters were selected as 1 of 2 ESPN3 broadcasts last week in the Big West. UC Irvine's matchup in Anteater Stadium on Friday, Sep. 28 against Hawai'i will be shown on ESPN3 in accordance with Big West Productions
β’ The matchup will mark the fifth straight season Anteater Stadium has hosted an ESPN3 broadcast with the 'Eaters 3-1-0 in the previous four contests
β’ UCI has also been featured on ESPN3 broadcasts three times as part of the Big West Tournament where it is 0-2-1 in those matches moving on in a penalty shootout in 2016
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Breaking News-om
β’ Maddie Newsom dominated in net over the weekend with 15 saves including nine in Sunday's win to tie a career high
β’ Two of Newsom's saves were on penalty attempts in the Friday night win over San Francisco. Newsom now has three PK saves all-time joining her stop against UC Davis in the 89th minute last season in a 1-0 loss at home, the last ESPN3 broadcast in Anteater Stadium
β’ Newsom's two wins give her 27 on her career, tied for the fourth-most in program history alongside Jenn Randazzo. A win this week will jump her to a tie with Kirsten Roy at 28 each and third in the program's history
β’ Newsom surpassed Randazzo in the saves category over the weekend as she's also hurdled Erin Henry, Sarah Swancutt, Janice Taft, and Allison Merrick this season to put her in a tie for fifth all-time with Amee Chapman totaling 180 career saves. Just ahead of them in Marissa Welliver with 187 career saves as Newsom is on pace to be the 'Eaters' fourth keeper all-time with 200 career saves
β’ Newsom also joined the 50-match club back on Sep. 16 in the match at Pepperdine. She is among the 73 Anteaters with at least 50 matches played, and she's started all of them making her the 43rd Anteaters with 50+ starts
β’ Lost in Newsom's defensive effort was her assist on Grouwinkel's first goal in Sunday's win. It's the first assist and point for the junior keeper and the first for any Anteater keeper since the season opener, Aug. 20, 2010, when Danielle de Seriere assisted on UCI's winner in a 2-1 victory over Idaho
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Numerology
β’ Claire Grouwinkel registered her first two multi-goal games in her career against USF and USD. 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’ Grouwinkel fell short each time of a hat trick, something UCI hasn't had since 2011 when Lexi Kopf and Natalia Ledezma each had one in consecutive weeks. The program has seen 14 hat tricks over its history including one 4-goal game
β’ Alex Karlowitsch starred at setting Grouwinkel up recording a pair of assists Sunday. Since 2014, Anteaters have registered two assists in a game 17 times with six coming from current Anteaters led by Karlowitsch's three (2014 at UCD, 2016 vs. Pitt), Reema Bzeih's two (2016 vs. CP, 2017 vs. Toledo), and Shelby Lee last year vs. UC Riverside. For Karlowitsch, she moves into a tie for eighth in program history with Natalia Ledezma registering 15 career assists each
β’ The goal scored by McDaniel 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 defenders
β’ Lili Andino came through with a spectacular free kick goal on Friday. She now leads the team and is third in the Big West with a pair of game-winning goals, now with three in her career
β’ UC Irvine opened the season with a loss at the hands of No. 12 USC. UCI is now 0-3 against ranked opponents to open a season, 0-2 in Anteater Stadium.
β’Β UCI stands at 6-8-0 all-time against ranked opponents.
Match Making
β’ Graduate senior Reema Bzeih played her 50th match with the Anteaters at Pepperdine, the 72nd player in program history. It was also her 50th career start, the 42nd 'Eater to reach 50 starts. In her career, she's played 61 matches starting 59 between UC Irvine and UCLA
β’ Kelsee Pottorff was the newest 'Eaters to reach 50 career match doing so as a sub in Sunday's win at home over San Diego. Over her career, she's started six times and earned two points, both on assists
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
β’ The Anteaters starting XI has fluctuated, but two 'Eaters have been part of all 10 starting lineups in 2018: Maddie Newsom, Reema Bzeih. A total of 10 Anteaters have been inserted into all 10 matches this season with three (Newsom, Aleah Kelley, Kala McDaniel) each reaching the 800-minute plateau
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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 two matches against Malaga (68') and Logroño (54')
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. The second leg will be played Thursday, Sep. 27
β’ Maria Magaña is part of independent side Einherji FC in Iceland where she's earned a win in limited action
Β
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.
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/ Women's SoccerDrop your FIFA World Cup 2026 final predictions below ππ
Friday, April 03
UCI Athletics 2026 Hall of Fame Ceremony - Simone Ferrara
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SUUS = SOCCER KILLA
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Whatβs YOUR alarm?? β° #TogetherWeZot | #Shorts
Tuesday, October 21
