A big overtime road win over their rivals have UCI at nine points on very much in the title race, and now two matches this week at Hawai'i and home Sunday for Senior Day vs. the Aggies.

Storylines
· Scarlett Camberos leads the Anteaters in nearly every offensive category, and added her first career hat trick in the 4-1 win over Hawai'i. For the program, it's the first hat trick since 2011 when Lexi Kopf and Natalia Ledezma each recorded one in consecutive weeks in Big West play. It is the 15th hat trick in UCI history, and she is the 14th different Anteater to register one. Camberos finished an historic week for the program adding a fourth goal vs. UC Davis. Camberos was named Big West Offensive Player of the Week, her second of 2021, and also adding a second award in 2021 is Desiree Mendoza winning another Freshman of the Week with her second game-winning goal she added at Hawai'i.
· Two Anteaters are on pace to reach 50 career matches this week with Scarlett Camberos one away and fellow senior Amber Huff two away from 50 in her career.
· Senior keeper Glo Hinojosa enters the week as the Big West leader in goals-against-average at 0.95 this season, the only Big West keeper with an average under 1.00. She's currently tied atop the Big West goalies with nine wins, and can become the first Big West keeper in 2021 with 10 wins.
· The Anteaters debuted their pink jerseys to begin October and will wear them throughout the entire month of October at home as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month as they have the past few years. She also has a 0.85 GAA in conference games with an 80% save percentage, and the second-best shutout percentage in 2021 with four in 13 matches.
· UCI has seen a lot of firsts in 2021 with 10 different players recording their first career point with Jenae Perez adding one Thursday assisting Camberos' final goal of the hat trick, seven scoring their first career goal, and firsts in goal with Glo Hinojosa earning her first career wins and shutouts in 2021. There have been 14 UCI debuts this season, 12 making collegiate debuts, and four debuts from international players with Laila El Behery from Egypt, Sophie Gillies from England, Aveka Singh from India, and Suus de Bakker from the Netherlands.

9 - UCI has taken home 9 Big West Player of the Week awards, second each this week from Camberos and Mendoza
58 - The Anteaters have taken home 58 Big West points over the past four seasons, most of any Big West school
11 - Scarlett Camberos scored the first UCI hat trick at UH in 11 years when Lexi Kopf and Natalia Ledezma each did
0.95 - Fourth-year keeper Glo Hinojosa enters the week with a 0.95 goals-against-average to lead the Big West
18 - 18 Anteaters have recorded a point in 2021 along with 10 different goalscorers and 7 'Eaters with game-winners
50 - Two Anteaters are approaching 50 career matches played with Camberos 1 away and Huff 2 away
 
This Week's Matches
· UC Irvine entered the week flying high on a win streak and added to it with a 4-1 drubbing of Hawai'I on Thursday, but were tripped up on Sunday at home falling to UC Davis, 2-1, to create a three-way tie on 12 points between the 'Eaters, Aggies, and Cal State Fullerton for the fourth Big West Tournament slot.
· The week upcoming starts with a trip to Bakersfield to face the Roadrunners. The sides meet up for the first time as Big West opponents and second time all-time with the other coming in 2007, also in Bakersfield, a 3-0 victory for the 'Eaters. CSUB has not been welcomed nicely to the conference at one point in six matches coming in a draw at UCSD. CSUB has one win on the year, two draws, and five total goals. The Runners were 30 seconds from a draw against LBSU before conceding late. Freshman Jamie Ingrassia has two of the team's five goals for the Runners. A trio of sophomore midfielders have put in work with 1,000 minutes each in Chloe Sizemore, Dome Rodriguez, and Chelsee Duran. Freshman keeper Flavia Burrell has stood tall in net with 92 saves ranking tops in the conference in saves per match.
· UCI heads to CSUN on Sunday evening for a return match against the Matadors after a dramatic 2-1 2OT victory to end August. CSUN has endured a brutal schedule to go 3-13 so far, but have picked up a pair of Big West wins at Hawai'I and this past Thursday over UC Riverside. CSUN's crew of sophomores have led the charge with six points from Cindy Arteaga (1 G, 4 A) and Christiane Sundstrom (2 G, 2 A) along with two goals from Brooke Mobeck. The backline of Gabriela Robles, Erin Anderson, and Sami Alarcon have added four goals between them, but have allowed the most goals on the season (45) and in Big West (14). Amanda Delgado has started 11 times including all four in October with 47 saves on the year including a 14-save effort in a loss at Arizona. CSUN holds a slim lead in the all-time series at 11-9-4 including four of the last five and three straight in Northridge.

2021 So Far
· Scarlett Camberos leads the Anteaters in nearly every offensive category, and added her first career hat trick in the 4-1 win over Hawai'i. For the program, it's the first hat trick since 2011 when Lexi Kopf and Natalia Ledezma each recorded one in consecutive weeks in Big West play. It is the 15th hat trick in UCI history, and she is the 14th different Anteater to register one.
· UCI defeated Cal for the first time in its history after 13 all-time meetings in double overtime, 1-0, on a Julia Gonzalez  goal. It marks the 13th result under head coach Scott Juniper against the Pac-12 (9 wins, 4 draws), and first win over a Pac-12 schools since Oregon in 2017 with two draws since then.
· The home opener was all UCI winning 6-0 over Southern Utah, the program's most goals in a game since 2020 - also a 6-0 home win vs. UC Davis.
· Of UCI's 10 goalscorers, eight have recorded their first career goals in Sophie Gillies, Desiree Mendoza, Chloe Ragon, Alyssa Moore, Laila El Behery, Lilli Rask, Destinee Manzo, and last week adding Kiera Smeenge. Six of them posted their first collegiate points along with five others who did so on assists; Maddy Chavez, Autumn Thompkins, Gianna Creighton, Jenae Perez, and Mihaela Perez.
· The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll projects the 'Eaters to finish in a tie for third with UC Santa Barbara. It's the fourth-straight preseason poll the 'Eaters have been picked in the top four. The 'Eaters also drew four first-place votes which led all team in the poll. The 11-player Preseason All-Big West team included a pair of 'Eaters in fourth-year junior forward Scarlett Camberos and third-year sophomore midfielder Gianna Creighton.
· Returning to the roster are 18 Anteaters, 15 that have played minutes for UCI. Joining the 18 returners are 18 newcomers, 15 of which as freshmen. Eight joined the squad in 2020. Ten have joined the fold for 2021 including three from four-year college like Oregon, Air Force, and Nevada. Sophie Gillies shone with five goals of the team's eight in the spring season where they went 3-0-2

Student-Athlete Notes
· The Anteaters celebrated their 2021 seniors at Sunday's match vs. UC Davis. UCI touts 11 seniors - Scarlett Camberos, Amber Huff, Alex Jaquez, Maddy Chavez, Julia Gonzalez, Destinee Manzo, Glo Hinojosa, Piper Wurth, Sam Nieto, Ryan Verhoeven, and Jay Her.
· Among the new 'Eaters are the international flavor with freshmen Suus de Bakker from the Netherlands, national team members Aveka Singh from India and Laila El Behery of Egypt, and Gillies from England. The roster is also flushed with players connected to Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Ghana, Guam, and Thailand.
· With no soccer in 2020-21, women's soccer still pushed through placing 47 student-athletes on Fall, Winter, and Spring Dean's Lists. Fifteen different 'Eaters earned Dean's List at least two quarters and 10 were recognized all three quarters including current players Maddie Lauro, Maddy Chavez, Sarah Javorsky, Kiera Smeenge, Destinee Manzo, Alyssa Moore, Sarah Ralston, and Halli Stewart.
· Of the 29 'Eaters that have declared a major, 11 different majors are represented with the most common as Sociology with 10 members and another in Social Ecology
· Maddy Chavez leads the way in academic exploits earning scholarships over the past year in the social justice leaders category; specifically the Houts Family and Maxine E Nevin Leider scholarships. Chavez is 1 of 4 Anteaters that are currently Criminology, Law, & Society majors.
· Four Anteaters enter the year as public health policy majors. 'Eater alum, Shelby Lee, was a PHP major toward her nursing school aspirations while she was the Big West's representative at National SAAC conferences where she has spoken on panels regarding mental health and helped toward the Time Management Plan that is currently in place to help student-athletes
· Among the other fields Anteaters are studying toward are three Psychological Science majors, two newcomers as Biomedical engineering majors, and other majors represented such as education, film & media studies, engineering, social ecology, and literary journalism.

Stats To Watch
· Scarlett Camberos leads the team. She ranks among the Big West leaders in shots per game (3rd - 3.83), shot accuracy (2nd - 57.8%), and leads the conference with 2.17 shots on goal per game in Big West matches. Her 20 total points also rank second.
· Two veterans lead the way in matches played with scoring leader Scarlett Camberos with 49 matches under her belt, 32 as a starter, and midfielder Amber Huff, playing 48 career matches. The leader in starts is Alex Jaquez with 33 in 43 matches.
· As alluded to, Camberos leads all active Anteaters with 12 goals scored and seven assists for 31 points total. Overall, the team returned 50% of their goals scored in 2019.
· Glo Hinojosa has recorded all nine UCI wins in 2021 including her first four career shutouts. She's stopped 36 shots along with a Big West-best 0.86 goals-against-average. Hinojosa's scoreless streak ended at Hawai'I at 335 minutes resulting in four wins and two shutouts.
· Head Coach Scott Juniper is back with his staff for his 16th year with the program, 15th year as the head coach, and 14th season of NCAA soccer. Juniper is the program's all-time winningest coach with 142 wins, three Big West titles, and a Big West-best 70 points over the last four-plus seasons in conference games.

Fans In The Stands
· UC Irvine soccer and Anteater Stadium welcomes back 100% capacity attendance for the 2021 season. In accordance with updated public health guidance regarding COVID-19, UC Irvine Athletics events will be at full-seating capacity for the upcoming 2021-22 season. Athletics will align with the latest state guidance regarding indoor and outdoor events as well as county, city, and campus directives.
· All UC Irvine home matches will be broadcasted on ESPN+ for 2021 following the new Big West deal. David Gascon will be on the call for each game, and links to watch and follow along can be found on ucirvinesports.com or @UCIwsoc social media.
· In 2019, UC Irvine women's soccer set a UCI soccer record for regular season crowd with 1,704 fans to see UCI take on No. 4 UCLA. It was the fourth-largest crowd in stadium history behind three postseason matches by the men's soccer program

'Eaters Playing Professionally
· Laila El Behery played in u20 Women's World Cup qualifying with the Egyptian under-20 National Team. She was overseas for both legs of their tie with the Republic of Congo, falling 4-2 in aggregate, and missing matches vs. UC San Diego and at Long Beach State. A second Anteater also returned to national team action as alum Jessica Miclat rejoined the Philippines national team defeating Nepal and Hong Kong, 2-1, to qualify for the 2022 Women's Asian Cup in an attempt to qualify for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
· Kiana Palacios and Janelly Farias have joined forces for Club America in Mexico's top league. The duo opened the season on July 18 each scoring a goal in the club's 2-1 win over Santos Laguna. This is Farias' second season with the club after playing previously with her hometown Chivas Guadalajara. Palacios joined this season after three with Spain's Real Sociedad. Both also play with the Mexican Senior National Team.
· Mady Solow has been playing professionally since graduating in 2013 starting in Italy and stints with the Polish National Team. She spent a season in Switzerland with FC Basel before settling back in Italy with Hellas Verona for a second season now.
· Cami Privett is stateside now in her fifth season with Houston Dash as a midfielder and defender. She first joined the club after an open tryout right after graduating from UCI in 2014. She was loaned out to a Norwegian club for 2017 and then to Spain in the same league as Palacios for 2018-19 before returning to Houston where she's stayed and made 19 appearances.
· Jessica Miclat finished up in 2019 and set off on the global scene. She had been part of the Philippines National Team since her junior year and participated in international tournaments and World Cup qualifiers. She continues to work with them, but also signed on with Danish club, Aalborg, late last season. The season for her and the club begins this August.