IRVINE, Calif. --- Practice begins for the 2019 UC Irvine women's soccer program on Wednesday working toward the first exhibition matches Friday, August 16 against Cal Baptist and Sunday, August 18 against top-10 opponent UCLA in Anteater Stadium. The 2019 season will consist of four match-ups against Pac-12 schools, the reworking of a roster that has 8 of 11 underclassmen starting, and the continued growth of a program that's put up three straight years of making the Big West Tournament.


 
2018 Highlights 
The Anteaters went 8-7-4 finishing third in the Big West. The women played in eight overtime games, going 3-1-4 in those matchups. UCI had a schedule among the toughest-third of schools in the nation that included four Pac-12 schools and three NCAA Tournament teams
 
Junior keeper Maddie Newsom earned Big West Goalkeeper of the Year honors after a stellar junior season, just the second honor for a UCI keeper. Her 82 saves and 1.02 goals-against-average came in nearly 2,000 minutes, and she added five points on offense, only the second keeper to reach that mark in an entire career, assisting on three goals and scoring one of her own vs. Long Beach State
 
Record-setting nine Anteaters were named to the All-Big West teams including Maddie Newsom and Aleah Kelley on the first team; Shelby Lee and Claire Grouwinkel on the second team; Joanne Joseph, Lili Andino and Alex Karlowitsch earning spots on the Honorable Mention team and Kala McDaniel on the All-Freshman team. Eight different players competed in their 50th career game at UCI over the past season
 
Table-Setting Seniors
The class of 2020 will lead one of the most talented teams in Anteater Soccer history. Maddie Newsom, Aleah Kelley, and Jessica Miclat will look to lead their team to victory one last time. She comes in with a lot of Anteater records on the horizon potentially becoming the program's all-time leading keeper in matches played and started and minutes played. With a double-digit season in wins, Newsom will join the exclusive 'Eater club of 40-win keepers and challenge 'Eater legends Stephanie Boes and Danielle de Seriere for the all-time mark. She could also join the exclusive 300-save plateau with another 80-save campaign Newsom enters her senior season as the focal point for a team hungry to make a push in the conference tournament.
 
Aleah Kelley enters her senior season as one of the strongest defenders on the team, logging the second most minutes last year only behind Newsom. Kelley was named to the All Big West First Team in 2018 adding her first career goal to the mix last season.
 
Miclat comes into her senior season accounting for half of the returning goals, and nearly half of the returning assists and points on the club scoring at least once in each season as an 'Eater for four total and posting 11 points, twice as many as the next-closest Anteater in keeper Maddie Newsom.

The extent of the team's four-year experience is rounded out by forward Carley Brown, a key role player for UCI entering 2019 with 44 career matches played, as well as Kyndal McKinney, in her second season since transferring from Indiana University. Graduate transfer Cassidy Kallenborn from the University of South Florida provides more veteran leadership and depth along the defensive midfield.
 
Fountain of Youth
A majority of the minutes in 2019 will fall to underclassmen on the Anteater squad with eight freshmen and sophomores likely to begin the year as starters behind Newsom, Kelley, and Miclat.

Second-year transfers Destinee Manzo and McKenzie Cooper join the Anteaters as Division I transfers returning to familiar Southern California ready to make their mark, and head the group of five Anteaters who redshirted their first season with the program in 2018

The talented sophomore class earned loads of experience in just their first season with players like McKenzie Madison, Scarlett Camberos, Amber Huff, and Kala McDaniel each playing in nearly every match in 2018. Key contributors like Alex Jaquez, Maddy Chavez, and Piper Wurth were all cut down due to injuries last year, but will be called upon to provide key minutes to pivotal positions

The 'Eaters have already seen youth drive success in past years with players like Newsom, Kelley, and Miclat each contributing right away in their first two seasons in addition to many of the 27,000 minutes moved on from the program last season.

Freshmen Ready to Rumble
The Anteaters have a sizable class of first-year players that will be called upon with nine true freshmen ready to lace them up. Gianna Creighton, Erin Covey, and Chloe Ragon highlight the rookie class which is poised to combine with a stellar senior class.
 
Midfielder Gianna Creighton is a native of San Diego, where she was a four year varsity starter at West Hills High School. She played for four years for Rebels Soccer Club where she also was a 2018 U.S. Youth National Champion and Far West National Champion. Creighton graduated in the top 7% of her graduating class and led her high school team to a CIF Division II State Championship in 2019. The accomplished high school athlete will look to make an immediate impact on this Anteater squad.
 
Chloe Ragon is a midfielder from Rancho Cucamonga and a recent graduate of Los Osos High School. Ragon played club soccer on Legends FC Soccer Club. Ragon's high school teammate, Erin Covey, is also an incoming freshman Forward who was MVP of her team and played alongside Ragon on Legends FC and Arsenal FC.

UCI's freshman class is also littered with CIF champions like Alyssa Moore, track stars like Emi Smith, Sarah Ralston, and Maddie Coppolo, and athletic families in Chantelle Sanchez and Taesja Paopao all looking to compete for minutes and starting spots on the 2019 Anteater squad
 
Strength in Schedule
The Anteaters will play one of the most grueling schedules as they will face three opponents who were ranked in 2018 including UCLA, Vanderbilt and Arizona. UCI will face UCLA in their second preseason game on August 18 at Anteater Stadium, which is expected to draw a huge preseason crowd building on the momentum from the 2018 season that saw Anteater Stadium's fourth-largest crowd of 1,704 fans vs. No. 12 USC in the season opener, the largest crowd ever to watch a regular season UCI soccer match
 
The big-time conference show up to Anteater Stadium in 2019 to test the 'Eaters in the form of Iowa State from the Big 12, Cal from the Pac-12, UCF from the American, and NCAA Tournament squad Vanderbilt that finished the year in the top 25.
 
UCI's road trips won't be any easier having to travel to NCAA Tournament teams Arizona and BYU, a neutral site matchup with another in top-15 ranked Texas Tech, and rematch with Arizona State meeting them for the first time since defeating them in the NCAA Tournament First Round, and starting everything off across the country to the East Coast for only the third time in program history to face the Virginia Cavaliers coming off an NCAA Tournament run where they ended 2018 ranked at No. 11
 
Head Coach Scott Juniper Enters 13th Season
Women's Soccer Head Coach Scott Juniper enters his 13th season at the helm. The winningest coach in program history surpassed Marine Cano last season having coached in 243 career matches. This season, his 13th, will surpass Cano again as the most by a single coach in program history. With a mark of 129-85-29, Juniper has led his squad to a winning record nine times, a spot in the Big West Tournament nine times, and a pair of NCAA Tournament at-large berths looking to return after UCI's last trip in 2011.
 
Juniper led the Anteaters through one of their most challenging seasons in 2018 with a toughest step to come in 2019. The two-time Big West Coach of the Year has brought the program its three Big West regular season titles has coached 72 Anteaters to all-conference honors and three All-Americans