This Week in UC Irvine Men's Soccer
UC Irvine (7-7-3, 5-1-2) at Cal State Fullerton (3-10-3, 1-6-1)				Matchup
Saturday, October 30				Date
Fullerton, Calif.				Location
Titan Stadium		Tickets		Fan Information
				Promotion
7:00 PM				Kickoff
ESPN+				How to Watch
Live Stats				Live Stats
Titans		Anteaters		Match Notes
Social Media:       @UCImsoc      @UCImsoc      UC Irvine Men's Soccer     #RipEm     #TogetherWeZot

2021 Awards Central

UCI locked up a Big West Tournament spot and a home game from two wins last week, now it tries to improve its position with a Big West crown possibility in a match Saturday at Fullerton

Storylines
· Notables from the last week have the 'Eaters unbeaten in six straight at 4-0-2, and now in sole possession of second place on 17 points. Game-winners in UCI's wins came from Ashish Chattha and Axel Adler. The team secured a spot in the Big West Tournament for the third straight season and in addition, secured a home match to start the tournament.
· The program is still alive to claim a share of the Big West regular season title sitting three points behind Big West leaders UC Santa Barbara. A win for UCI coupled with a UCSB loss vs. CSUN will tie them atop the standings. UCI can secure the No. 1 seed with those results in addition to favorable goal differential in conference results in 2021. A single point will be enough for the Anteaters to lock up a first-round bye for the Big West Tournament and have them host the semifinal match on Saturday, November 6.
· In net, the 'Eaters have excelled as a duo with Gordon Botterill whose shutout streak ended Saturday at 365 minutes coming off streaks of 189 and 276 minutes this year. He leads the conference with a .855 save percentage that ranks second in the NCAA, and a 0.677 goals-against-average ranked 10th. Luke Pruter scored his first win at USD and saved nine shots in his first career start. He followed that up with 13 saves in a loss at Stanford for the second-highest single-game total in program history, and earned an assist and shutout vs. UCR. Together, they lead the Big West with 82 saves overall and 4.28 saves per match.
· UCI's 2021 season has been a team effort with 19 different Anteaters earning points. For 11 of them, it was their first career points, and with 14 different players recording a goal, 10 have put home the first of their careers including five different players earning the seven game-winners. Overall, we've seen 11 Anteaters make their collegiate debuts in 2021 with nine producing points. The goals have ranged through the classes as well with five from first-years, six total from freshmen, and 16 from fourth or fifth-year Anteaters.
· Anteaters have made big strides in the professional ranks recently starting with Daniel Crisostomo whose made eight appearances with LAFC starting the four and putting up an 85% success rate on his passes vs. Portland. Alvaro Quezada has also made a handful of appearances with LAFC playing alongside Crisostomo on one occasion. Roberto Molina also made his debut with the El Salvador national team in a friendly, and started in another friendly vs. Guatemala while also continuing to compete with and captain the USL Las Vegas Lights FC.
 
10.31 - As a team, the Anteaters commit just 10.31 fouls per match, the lowest total in the Big West
82 - UCI keepers lead the Big West saving 82 shots between Botterill and Pruter including 9 or more on 3 occasions
19 - UCI is gotten a point from 19 different players in 2021 including 14 unique goal scorers and 10 scoring their first
 #1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with two now playing pro and six on the 2021 roster
4-0-2 - The Anteaters are unbeaten in 6 straight matches going 4-0-2 and outscoring opponents 12-3
2nd - Gordon Botterill's save % of 85.5% ranks 2nd nationally along with the 10th-best GAA at 0.677
 
This Week's Matches
· One final regular season match for the 'Eaters taking former coach of the program, George Kuntz, and the Cal State Fullerton Titans. It's the 12th meeting between UCI and its old coach with CSF ahead, 4-5-2, in those matchups. A single point will secure a top-2 spot in the Big West standings with a win and UCSB loss to CSUN giving UCI a share of the Big West title for a second time under head coach Yossi Raz
· Cal State Fullerton has had a down year after winning season in coach Kuntz's first six campaigns. CSF comes in 3-10-3 overall and 1-6-1 in conference matchups. The win and draw did occur at Titan Stadium dropping UC Davis, 1-0, and drawing with UC Riverside, 1-1, earlier in the month. The Titans attack is always ready firing the second-most shots of anyone during Big West play and earning their share of corners. Sophomores Sebastian Cruz and Samuel Owusu account for 12 of the 17 team goals with Cruz netting five via penalties and leading the squad with three assists. The defense has allowed the most Big West goals at 16 with juniors Andrea Bonavia (14 SV, 6 GA in 5 starts) and Jose Espino (15 SV, 10 GA in 3 starts) splitting time in goal.

2021 To This Point
· With one match remaining in the regular season, has sewn up a Big West Tournament spot with a first-round bye still possible on the back of a six-match unbeaten streak.
· UCI added a sixth weekly honor as Ashish Chattha claimed his first honor named Big West Offensive Player of the Week with goals in each UCI win last week. He joins Gordon Botterill with two Defensive Player of the Week honors, Jake Means winning the program's first Freshman of the Week, and fellow  Big West Offensive Player of the Week winners Kelvin Neumetzler and Beto Alvarenga.
· The Anteaters began Big West play with a 2-6-1 record. The 'Eaters began the season going 0-4-1 with one goal scored. Those losses included three on the road, three by one goal, and two vs. ranked squads.
· UCI's pair of five-goal matches match the most goals scored under head coach Yossi Raz tying with the first win over coach Raz's UCI career in 2017 at Northern Kentucky, 5-2. The five goals at home and five-goal margin of victory are the first since the same match in 2010 defeating Cal State Fullerton, 7-2.
· The Big West revealed its Preseason Coaches Poll and All-Big West Preseason squad last week. The 'Eaters are projected to finish third behind UCSB and UC Davis who are tied for first. The 'Eaters received one first-place vote and were one of six programs of the 10 in The Big West that earned a vote. The 11-player All-Big West Preseason squad featured a pair of Anteaters for the third straight season. Sophomores Eddy Berumen and Oscar Cervantes represented after each finished 2019 as members of the Big West All-Freshman Team.

Student-Athlete Notes
· Among the new 'Eaters is some international flavor including a pair of freshmen from Norway in Victor Sandsmark-Evensen and Mathias Winum, four-year transfers in Gordon Botterill, originally from Switzerland, and Ryan Khedoo, originally from Canada while also recently playing with the Guyana National Team. Francesco Montanile crossed stateliness from Arizona, and Luke Pruter grew up in Ireland. 'Eaters also have international ties to Mexico, India, Hong Kong, Japan, and Germany.
· Keeper Gordon Botterill had some insightful words following the team's uplifting win vs. Cal Poly:
· "Playing with UCI, it's been quite special for me because I feel like I've fallen in love with the sport again. At times previously, I felt like I might have fallen out of love with it with is hard to taken having played it while growing up, but this season I've mentioned to coach Raz how grateful I am that I can love the sport again, and it's a great group of lads, especially the goalkeeper's union; the facilities are a big bonus, but this season has been slowly getting there and building to something special."
·  "We can't get to ahead of ourselves, we have to take it game-by-game. The way we're coming into them and improving bit-by-bit, it's feasible to keep taking these steps. It's minute-by-minute, and at the moment we seem to be progressing, and we need to keep trusting ourselves and finding those little things like today - you can have all the ability in the world, but in the end of the day, especially in college soccer, the thing that wins games is heart and soul which can be hard to translate those things and channel emotion in the right direction, but tonight's showing I hope we can keep up to the end of the season."
· With no soccer in 2020-21, men's soccer still pushed through graduating five Anteaters, and 16 'Eaters made Dean's List between Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Eddy Berumen and Kelvin Neumetzler were Anteaters appearing on all three Dean's Lists in 2020-21. Three return of the seven that were 2019 Big West All-Academic in Berumen, Alvarenga, and Yamaguchi.
· Of the 22 'Eaters that have declared a major, 12 different majors are represented with the most common as Business Economics and Sociology / Social Ecology with six members each.
· The pair of grad transfers to the program will each be working towards their grad school degrees during the season. Gordon Botterill begins the highly-acclaimed Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Ryan Khedoo is pursuing DASA, or the Master's in Demographic and Social Analysis
· A pair of Anteaters are currently double majors in Lawrence Yamaguchi for International Studies and Sociology while Kelvin Neumetzler is in Psychology and Business Economics.
· Among the other fields Anteaters are studying toward are three Criminology, Law, & Society majors, two International Studies, two Business Administration, and solos in Education, Public Health Science, and Computer Game Science.

Stats To Watch
· Two veterans lead the way in matches played with fifth-year forward Lawrence Yamaguchi at 66 matches starting 25 while scoring leader Michael Orozco has started 49 times of the 56 matches he's appeared in. Others include Beto Alvarenga - 18 starts in 47 caps, Axel Adler - 42 caps with nine starts, and 12 starts in 38 career appearances for Christian Bond-Flasza.
· Entering the 2019 season, coach Raz's recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer. From that class, two players are currently on pro sides - Roberto Molina at Las Vegas Lights FC and Jorge Hernandez with L.A. Galaxy II - and those remaining in Eddy Berumen, Kwabena Boateng, Mario Anaya, Rafael Espinoza, Ricardo Ibarra, and Oscar Cervantes.
Fans In The Stands
· UC Irvine soccer and Anteater Stadium welcomes back 100% capacity attendance for the 2021 season. In accordance with CDPH guidance regarding COVID-19, UC Irvine Athletics events will be at full-seating capacity for the upcoming 2021-22 season. The first match vs. UCLA brought in 858 fans, the fourth-largest crowd during coach Raz's tenure.
· Returning to the roster are 13 Anteaters, 10 that have played minutes for UCI. Scoring leaders return including Michael Orozco with three goals and eight points. Lawrence Yamaguchi and Oscar Cervantes each bring six career points scoring twice and adding two assists. Joining the 13 returners are 14 newcomers; seven joined the squad in 2020 for the season that never happened, and seven more joined the fold for 2021 with three four-year transfers from Fairfield, Kansas City, and San Francisco. UCI lost seven from the 2020 roster including four signing pro contracts.
· Head Coach Yossi Raz returns for his fifth year with the program and fourth Division I soccer season. Raz is 26-21-12 in his three seasons at the helm without any losing seasons including a Big West title and trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
· All home soccer matches in 2021 will be broadcasted on ESPN+ following the Big West's new deal. Play-by-play broadcaster David Gascon will have all the action for fans.
· Joining coach Raz on the sideline is a reformed coaching staff led by Cale Rodriguez as top assistant coach. Yonha Adrabi has elevated from volunteer goalkeeper coach to assistant. Joining as the new volunteer assistant is Kostas Kyriazis and director of operations Gemar Lezeau, both coming from the New York Red Bulls coaching ranks.

'Eaters Playing Professionally
· UC Irvine men's soccer alums currently account for 16 'Eaters playing professionally across five countries. The United States holds the largest contingent of Anteaters still playing. Alvaro Quezada was drafted in early 2021 by LAFC and signed with them. He is currently being loaned to Las Vegas Lights FC alongside fellow 'Eaters Daniel Crisostomo and Roberto Molina for the USL Championship side. On Wednesday, August 6, LAFC added Crisostomo to the club signing him. Later that evening in LAFC's match vs. Sporting KC, he was on the bench alongside Quezada before Quezada heard his named called for his first MLS minutes entering in the 68th minute and finishing out the match nearly collecting an assist in his debut. Quezada becomes the seventh Anteater all-time to record minutes with and MLS club. Crisostomo later became the eighth Anteater to play in an MLS game entering for LAFC in the 81st minute August 15 at Atlanta United FC.
· Molina earned a call-up to the El Salvadorian National Team last month playing in a friendly against Costa Rica hoping for an invite to the World Cup Qualifiers in September. Other 'Eaters on national teams have been Lester Hayes III playing for the Puerto Rico national team in World Cup Qualifier wins over Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Miguel Ibarra also spent time with the U.S. national team entering in three friendlies. Brad Evans also played in 21 caps adding a goal in a WCQ vs. Jamaica.
· The USL Championship level is home to eight Anteaters including the three in Las Vegas. Cameron Iwasa continues his run with Sacramento Republic FC which will make the jump to MLS  soon. Elsewhere is Thomas Janjigian with Hartford Athletic, Tarek Morad at Oakland Roots, Ford Parker at Birmingham Legion FC, and long-time MLS pro Miguel Ibarra at San Diego Loyal FC.
· Below the USL Championship is USL League One containing a pair of 'Eaters with Victor Falck in his second season with Richmond Kickers and 2020 grad Luca Mastrantonio with FC Tucson. Within the NISA league stands two more 'Eaters with Giovanni Ramos-Godoy at Stumptown AC and Los Angeles Force's Seamus McLaughlin.
· Four Anteaters are thriving globally starting with the most successful in Lester Hayes III. He's found himself in Denmark with new club Dalum FC. He took part in Gold Cup qualifiers with Puerto Rico scoring once in his two matches. Prior to that, he spent three years in Spain with two different ninth-tier clubs as one of their top goalscorers. Darren Hamilton continues his career back in England now with Whitley Bay FC of England's ninth tier. Making his way with Latvia's Super Nova is long-time forward Renato Torquato. Former keeper Bryan Tian Keat See, who spent one season with the 'Eaters, is on his third club in southeast Asia now with Pulum Pinang in Malaysia.