FIRST TOUCHES
UC Irvine improved last week with a close, one-goal defeat to No. 9 Vanderbilt before earning its first victory over Northern Colorado. Next will be a hotly-contested road trip to face Arizona State and Arizona in Tucson  
88 - UC Irvine women's soccer has seen 87 'Eaters reach 50 career matches played including eight in 2018. Carley Brown will become the 88th when she plays her next two matches
1st - The weekend was primed with firsts starting with 1st career goals and points from Scarlett Camberos and Julia Gonzalez. In goal, freshman Taesja Paopao stopped her 1st four career shots to win her 1st match in her 1st start
8-15-5 - UC Irvine head coach Scott Juniper is 8-15-5 all-time against the Pac-12 having played at least one program in 11 straight seasons. With three on this year's slate, it's the fifth time three or more Pac-12 teams have appeared on the ledger

STORYLINES
UCI was flooded with firsts over the weekend, notably Sunday when Scarlett Camberos and Julia Gonzalez each scored their first career goals and points to defeat Northern Colorado for the team's first goals and win of 2019. In addition, true freshman Taesja Paopao played in her first career match earning the start and scoring the win while securing her first four career saves

UC Irvine's freshman influence is evident with eight players making their collegiate debuts while five Anteaters recorded their first ever collegiate start

The preseason polls for the Big West came out with UC Irvine projected to finish third much like 2018 when UCI finished third and reached  the conference tournament for a second straight season. UCI had three players on the Preseason All-Big West squad in Aleah Kelley, Jessica Miclat, and Maddie Newsom, eclipsing the two total preseason honorees from the last four years combined

UCI has taken on a pair of ranked opponents both No. 9 in the nation in Virginia and Vanderbilt, the first time they've encountered two ranked opponents since 2014. UCI opened with a 7-0 loss in their first trip to Virginia, the fourth time ever allowing seven or more goals, first since 1987, and first time a coach Juniper squad had allowed more than four goals in a match

With a win or draw…
...it would snap a string of four straight matches without a win vs. the Pac-12 dating back to a neutral site win vs. Oregon in 2017
...UCI would improve on its record of 8-15-5 against Pac-12 schools under head coach Scott Juniper. A Scott Juniper-coached squad has earned a win or draw in all eight seasons where its played multiple Pac-12 programs and will play three in 2019
...on Friday, it will be its first result in the state of Arizona vs. the Sun Devils
...on Sunday, it would extend UCI's two-match unbeaten streak (1-0-1) vs. Arizona in Tucson. The Anteaters are 2-1-1 all-time in Tucson going 1-1-1 vs. Arizona and adding an OT win over Buffalo, 2-1, in the 2004 Arizona Invitational

ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS
The Sun Devils are rolling in the early going at 4-0 under 3rd-year head coach Graham Winkworth. ASU opened with a 4-1 road win at Cal State Fullerton followed three home wins, two by 7-1 scores, for the team picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12. They meet the 'Eaters for the first time since the 2010 where UCI won its first NCAA postseason match at home with a 2-1 victory. ASU has hovered around .500 since then, but Winkworth returns 19 players from last year's squad including leading scorers Nicole Douglas and Marleen Schimmer who have six goals together already this year. Freshman Giulia Cascapera has stopped two of eight shots on target so far.

ARIZONA WILDCATS
UCI and Arizona meet for the third straight year after a scoreless draw in Tucson in 2017 and a 1-0 win for Arizona last year in Anteater Stadium. The Wildcats won their two matches by a combined 9-0 score and had their season opener with Long Beach State cancelled due to weather. Arizona will tussle with Oklahoma Friday before tangling with UCI. The 2018 squad won 13 matches finishing T5th in the Pac-12 and thumped Denver in the NCAA First Round before falling the next round at Tennessee. The squad is equipped with seven seniors while three top scorers - Jada Talley, Jill Aguilera, and Emily Knous - return off their 39-goal output in 2018 projected to place seventh in conference. Aguilera was the goalscoring culprit in last year's match. Kendyll Humphreys won the opening-day job shutting out WSU while her competition, Hope Hisey, earned the shutout against TTU, with the two gathering three total saves.