Gaucho Invite
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Saturday, January 18, 2020

No. 4 Cal Bears (1-0) vs.  No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (0-0)
10:30 AM – Recreation Center - Santa Barbara, Calif.

No. 7 Michigan Wolverines (0-0) vs. No. 5 UC Irvine Anteaters (0-0)
2:00 PM - Campus Pool - Santa Barbara, Calif.

Weekend Information

Open Season

• The 'Eaters open the season ranked No. 5 nationally, tying the 2016 team for the highest rank to open a season
• The 2019 Anteaters began the season ranked No. 6 and ranked sixth six times out of the last nine seasons
• UCI will open the weekend against two teams ranked inside the top-10
• The Anteaters are 13-6 in season openers including wins in two of their last three
• UCI dropped its season-opener to No. 3 UCLA, 10-6, in 2019
• The Anteaters will play Cal in their season-opener for the first time
• This marks the second year in a row UCI opens the season at the UCSB Winter Invitational

About the Bears

• Cal already has one game under its belt, a 12-6 victory against San Jose State in its season opener
• UCI is 1-19 all-time against Cal and have not played the Bears since the 2018 season where the Anteaters dropped two games
• Cassidy Ball starts in goal for the Bears and opened the season with 12 saves and a goal against SJSU
• Claire Sonne shined on the offensive side notching four goals in Cal's season-opening win
• Cal is playing without thee of their top four scorers who are taking the season off to train with their respective national teams in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Games

About the Wolverines

• Michigan is coming off its fourth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and a 23-9 overall record
• UM returns goalie Heidi Ritner who ranks second in program history with 722 saves
• Erin Neustrom returns as the leading scorer with 30 goals
• UCI is 8-5 all-time against the Wolverines. UM defeated UCI 9-8 in 2019
• UM enters the season ranked No. 7 nationally and ended 2019 ranked No. 6

Roster Sneak Peak
"We only lost three seniors last year so our roster is fairly consistent with what it was in 2019. With the improvement of our returning players plus the addition of the newcomers, I am really excited for the roster we have."
 
Senior two time All-American Tara Prentice returns as UCI's leading scorer after posting 70 goals, the second most in a season in program history. She also finished with 24 steals and 11 assists. Sophomore All-Conference selection Piper Smith will look to have a breakout season after finishing third on the team a year ago with 40 goals and 15 steals.
 
Second team All-Conference goalkeeper Morgan Jones returns as UCI's starting goalie. In 2019 she started 26 games tallying 172 saves. She finished with a 6.15 goals against average.
 
The 'Eaters will look to fill the hole left by four time All-American Mary Brooks who ended her career as the 7^th leading scorer all-time in the Big West.

UCI will get senior leadership from Prentice, Delayne Lynton, Jolene Viramontes and Marissa Echelberger.
 
Fresh Face, Our Place
UCI brings in eight freshmen and one transfer for the 2020 season. Camila Rosas comes to Irvine from Long Beach City College where she was named an All-South Coast Conference first-team selection last season.
 
The eight true freshman include Portia Schiavone, Kili Skibby, Maeve Murphy, Elena Flynn, Jensine Bugelli, Jessica Lynch, Airian Grisham, Mica Schiavone and Sydney Milham
 
Anteater Staff Breakdown
Head coach Dan Klatt returns for his 16^th season at the helm and stands four wins away from 300, with 296 career wins at UCI.
 
New to the staff this season are 2019 UCI graduates Mary Brooks and Jenna Phreaner who will serve as assistant coaches.
 
Associate head coach Andrew Rowe returns for his 12^th season with the 'Eaters.