FIRST TOUCHES 
The season begins for the 25th-ranked Anteaters on the road heading to No. 11 Saint Mary's to test their unbeaten streak, and finishing up at Cal for some Sunday afternoon Pac-12 competition    
6th - The 'Eaters reached their 6th NCAA Tournament, all within the last 11 seasons. UCI has reached the second round in all six with an overall record of 4-6-1 in tournament matches

3-2-0 - UCI played five matches against  programs in the 2018 field going 3-2-0 with wins over UCF and James Madison, losses to Saint Mary's and Pacific, and a victory in the regular season against conference foe, UC Riverside

22nd - UC Irvine's 2018 schedule finished up as the 22nd-toughest among the 206 Division I programs. UC Irvine earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament thanks to its RPI of 23
 
STORYLINES 
UC Irvine begins the season ranked at No. 25 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. They finished 2018 just outside the top 25 in votes. UC Irvine was also slotted No. 21 according to Top Drawer Soccer's preseason poll

The 'Eaters won each of their exhibition matches taking down San Diego State, 3-1, and NAIA school Marymount California 4-1. Newcomers got the brunt of the scoring with freshmen Roberto Molina and Eddy Berumen accounting for three of the goals, transfers Carlos Becerra-Gomez and Eder Oliva each scoring once, and returners Alvaro Quezada and Beto Alvarenga each contributing

With 22 players that saw minutes in 2018, 12 of them will return to the squad including six starters in Jose Ortiz, Alvaro Quezada, Michael Orozco, Jalani Ambrose, Lawrence Yamaguchi, and Victor Falck

The Anteaters bring in a talented class of 14 newcomers rated as the top recruiting class in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer. Five of the newcomers are transfers from programs such as New Mexico, San Francisco, Coastal Carolina, and Portland, while another four Anteaters enter the mix after redshirting in their first year with the program in 2018

Keepers Ford Parker and Carlos Contreras split time in the exhibitions each allowing a goal and picking up three saves between them as each will compete for the starting role. Parker transfers from New Mexico where he played in 18 matches, and Contreras played one half in two years so far and contributed in a penalty shootout

The Anteaters begin the season on the road for the fourth straight season. In the program's first 32 seasons, they started on the road just three times. All-time, the program is 21-9-5 in season openers.

With a win or draw... 
...the 'Eaters could snap a string of three straight seasons without a season-opening win (0-2-1)
...UCI would snap Saint Mary's three-game win streak against UCI dating back to 2009
...would be the first result against a Pac-12 school since 2016 (W at Oregon State) spanning two matches

SAINT MARY'S GAELS 
The Gaels had an historic season in 2018 going 18-0-2 finishing without a loss, but fell out of the NCAA Tournament in the third round. Saint Mary's finished 2018 at No. 9, and will begin 2019 ranked 11th along with the preseason pick to win the West Coast Conference. Four Gaels were named to the preseason WCC squad and named MAC Hermann watch listers in Jake Rudel, Andres Engebretsen, and Jakub Svehlik, who accounted for 26 goals and 15 assists between them, and senior keeper Remi Prieur rounded it out with his 0.41 goals-against-average and 14 shutouts from a year ago. SMC was undone in an exhibition last week at Stanford losing 3-0, and defeated NAIA squad Notre Dame de Namur. The programs meet for the 12th time with the Gaels ahead 7-3-1 in the series having won each of the last three.

CAL GOLDEN BEARS 
Cal looks to bounce back after a 7-9-2 season in 2018 going 3-7 in Pac-12 play. The programs haven't met competitively since 2004 when Cal won, 2-1, at a neutral site. The sides also played an exhibition in 2016 that went UCI's way, but overall, the Golden Bears have a slight edge at 4-3-1 with now six matches taking place in Berkeley. The youthful Cal roster has 20 underclassmen of its 27 members led by the defense with all-conference keepers Drake Callender and Noah Texter battling for time, and a backline of JJ Foe Nuphaus, Ian Lonergan, and Christopher Grey holding firm. Cal's top contributors were selected in the draft leaving Simon Lekressner, a talented midfielder back from injury, and six goals returning in the form of Alonzo Del Mundo, Taylor Davila, and Lucas Churchill