High-scoring Anteaters registered 11 goals last week, and now joust with the Big West leaders in the regular season's final week with tournament spots and Big West crown all within reach

Storylines
· Tournament spots and a Big West title are all still in the cards for UC Irvine this week as they and Long Beach State each host the other two schools within the top four in the standings, UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly. A win Thursday will guarantee UCI a spot in the tournament while two wins coupled with a draw or loss in either game from LBSU gives UCI the No. 1 seed and at least a share of the Big West regular season title.
· Scarlett Camberos has scored eight times in the last four matches producing two hat tricks. The hat tricks are the 15th and 16th in program history, and she joins Hall-of-Famer Nicole Bucciarelli as the only 'Eaters all-time with multiple hat tricks. Camberos also jumped into the all-time Anteater records in single-season scoring with 27 points so far to tie her for seventh all-time, the first 10-goal scorer for the Anteaters since Laura McGrail in 2014, and the seventh season of 12 or more goals scored. Camberos currently leads all Big West players in goals and points and leads the Anteaters in assists as well. Her performance earned her second straight and third overall Big West Offensive Player of the Week honor.
· Two Anteaters reached 50 career matches last week with Camberos on Thursday and Amber Huff on Sunday., the 91st and 92nd Anteaters all-time. Camberos also has 1,362 minutes played in 2021, 1 of 7 Anteaters over 1,000 minutes led by Gianna Creighton at 1,426, and joined by Glo Hinojosa, Destinee Manzo, Lilli Rask, Chloe Ragon, and Maddy Chavez. Others within reach of 1,000 minutes this week are Alex Jaquez (975) and Kiera Smeenge (952).
· Senior keeper Glo Hinojosa enters the weekend as the Big West leader in goals-against-average at 0.89 this season along with the wins leader with 11 now.
UCI has seen a lot of firsts in 2021 with 12 different players recording their first career point and 10 scoring their first career goal added by Suus de Bakker recording both on her goal at CSUN, 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. El Behery played in qualifiers with the under-20 Egyptian squad earlier in the season, and just recently earned her first call-up to the senior national team playing the past week in the African Women's Championship.
 
11 - UCI has taken home 11 Big West Player of the Week awards; 4 offensive, 1 defensive, and 6 freshman honors
58 - The Anteaters have taken home 58 Big West points over the past four seasons, most of any Big West school
12 - Scarlett Camberos leads the Big West with 12 goals and 29 points scoring a goal in 4 straight and a point in 5
0.89 - Fourth-year keeper Glo Hinojosa enters the week with a 0.89 goals-against-average to lead the Big West
20 - 20 Anteaters have recorded a point in 2021 along with 12 different goalscorers and 10 scoring their first-ever goal
8-2 - UCI has impressive marks of 8-2 against Big West schools in 2021, and a 7-2 mark in road matches
 
This Week's Matches
· UCI jumped into third in the standings following two road wins. The four tournament spots consist of Cal Poly at 21 points, LBSU at 19, UCI with 18, and UCSB at 16, and all four matchup in each of their matches this weekend. Cal State Fullerton (15 pts) and UC Davis (12 pts) still remain in range to crash the party.
· UCI's path to a tournament berth is simple starting with a win in either match this week. Beyond that, the there are a lot of variables tied to any other results. UCI does hold tiebreakers over LBSU and CSF in any instance of a tie. The next tiebreaker also favors the Anteaters which is scoring margin in conference matches that UCI current holds at a +13 followed by the next-closest Cal Poly at +11.
· UCI's first opponent, UCSB, has a .500 record to this point winning twice in non-conference including a shutout of USD. Their Big West losses have come at home to CSF and Cal Poly most recently while also drawing, 0-0, at Hawai'i. The Gauchos have just 15 goals on the year with 10 coming in Big West matches behind its defenders, Emma Vanderhyden and Shaye Douglas, with five of them and six assists between the two. They do pose a stout defense with Evann Smith in net stopping 62 shots and a 0.60 GAA in Big West matches posting shutouts in five of eight Big West games allowing two goals just once.
· Sunday's 2:00 p.m. test brings in Big West leaders, Cal Poly, with an 11-5 record and 7-1 in conference scoring multiple goals in all seven wins, three goals in five of them, and the lone loss coming at UC Davis in a 2-0 shutout. The Mustang offense has feasted in Big West matches with the most shots and corners of any school. Nikki Trucco has 10 goals compliment by Camille Lafaix netting seven of her own, and a healthy serving of assists from the duo of Brooke Rubinstein (7 A) and Olivia Ortiz (6 A). Defensively, CP has allowed its share of goals with eight in eight conference matches. The duo of Lindsay Kellogg (11 SV, 3 GA) and Mackenzie Samuel (9 SV, 3 GA) have held the line in Big West matches behind a defense that's allowed just 31 shots on target in Big West season.

2021 So Far
· UCI's 11 wins are tied for most in the Big West, and marks the eight 10-win season in head coach Scott Juniper's 14 seasons. UCI is also in line for its 10th winning season in that span.
· 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. UCI also scored six in a win at CSUN capping an 11-goal week
· Of UCI's 12 goalscorers, 10 have recorded their first career goals in Sophie Gillies, Desiree Mendoza, Chloe Ragon, Alyssa Moore, Laila El Behery, Lilli Rask, Destinee Manzo, Kiera Smeenge, and adding Autumn Thompkins and Suus de Bakker. Eight posted their first collegiate points along with five others who did so on assists; Sarah Ralston, Maddy Chavez, Gianna Creighton, Jenae Perez, and Mihaela Perez.
· The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll projected 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 teams in the poll. The 11-player Preseason All-Big West team included fourth-year forward Scarlett Camberos and third-year 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 11 2021 seniors the week prior at a match - 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 with 12 goals, five assists, and 29 points. She now leads the conference in points and goals. Her recent scoring surge has put her top-20 in the nation in goals, points, and shots on goal per match. She also ranks among the Big West leaders in shots per game (3rd - 3.50), shot accuracy (2nd - 63%), and shots on goal per match (1st - 2.19).
· Two veterans lead the way in matches played with scoring leader Scarlett Camberos with 51 matches under her belt, 34 as a starter, and midfielder Amber Huff, playing 50 career matches. The leader in starts is Alex Jaquez with 35 in 45 matches.
· Glo Hinojosa has recorded all 11 UCI wins in 2021 including her first five career shutouts. She's stopped 41 shots along with a Big West-best 0.89 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 144 wins, three Big West titles, and a Big West-best 75 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.