IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer opened up its 2019 campaign with a successful exhibition match Monday evening in Anteater Stadium topping San Diego State, 3-1.

Rules Optional
With every exhibition match, the game is not played completely true to the regular season rules, and Monday night, the teams played three halves, two of 45 minutes and a third of 30 minutes.

Early Returns
The 'Eaters were dominant at the scoreboard outshooting SDSU 11-1 in the first half even with a near even split in possession. UCI started the scoring in the 24th minute on a transition play started by Victor Falck. The attack went through Lawrence Yamaguchi who fed a ball wide to freshman Eddy Berumen down the right flank who closed in on the box and fired around Aztec keeper Harrison Skinner on inside the far post for the goal and 1-0 Anteater lead.

SDSU answered knotting the game in the 35th minute. A free kick crossed over the box found Blake Bowen who fed it back into the box hitting Hunter George whose half volley found a spot over keeper Carlos Contreras and in capitalizing on SDSU's first and only first-half shot to make it 1-1.

UCI regained the lead shortly thereafter in a similar fashion to SDSU. UCI held possession in the attacking third and put a ball into the box that landed at Jose Ortiz whose initial shot was blocked, but the rebound found Carlos Becerra-Gomez who guided a rebound through and inside the far post for a 2-1 Anteater lead in the 38th minute giving the 'Eaters a lead into the half.

Finishing Strong
The sides played a more-even half in the second 45 minutes with possession about even and a healthy dose of reserves. UCI grew its lead to 3-1 in the 81st minute as Seamus McLaughlin set up Beto Alvarenga who cracked a shot from 30 yards out dipping over the keeper and under the bar for the two-goal advantage.

The teams played a final 30-minute period where the 'Eaters put four of their six additional shots on target, but did not add anymore scores to end the exhibition in a 3-1 score.

Final Score: No. 25 UC Irvine 3, San Diego State 1
UCI had 25 shots in total, 19 in regulation, putting 14 on target and seven coming in the first half. Contreras and Ford Parker each played 60 minutes with all four saves registered to Parker. Harrison Skinner made seven stops for SDSU playing 90 minutes while Tetsuya Kadono made four saves in the extra period. Leading shot takes for UCI were Lawrence Yamaguchi and Eder Oliva with three each. Three Aztecs played a full 90 minutes while UCI's leading minutes-getting was junior Luca Mastrantonio recording 68.

Welcome Genius Sports
Tonight's match was the first of its kind statted by the new Genius NCAA Live Stats program for soccer. The new program calls for more data collection to track possession. From the official scorer's call, possession favored UC Irvine on the night holding 51% through the first 90 minutes after SDSU had the 51-49 edge in the first half.

Next Up
UCI prepares for a final exhibition match coming Saturday, August 24 as it hosts NAIA program Marymount California in Anteater Stadium with kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m. The regular season begins on the road with matches at No. 9 Saint Mary's (August 30) and Cal (September 1).