The 'Eaters play once riding a two-match win streak heading to a Long Beach State squad topping the Big West to start up the Black & Blue Rivalry Series for 2021-22.

Storylines
· The Anteaters took home two wins last week coming back from down 1-0 at the half to win, 2-1, at Cal State Fullerton from a header goal by the Big West Freshman of the Week, Laila El Behery, and an own goal of a Scarlett Camberos cross headed along. Sunday, the 'Eaters completed the sweep winning 2-0 from a Glo Hinojosa shutout, her third, making a pair of impressive stops, and goals from Destinee Manzo, the first of her career, and Alyssa Moore, her third driving from midfield to finish on a breakaway.
· UCI was 1 of 2 Big West programs with a winning non-conference record. The Anteaters finished non-conference play with a 5-3 record including wins over two Big West teams and one over a Pac-12. In coach Juniper's 14 years as head coach, it's the ninth non-conference with five or more wins and also ninth entering Big West play with a winning record.
· The Anteaters debuted their pink jerseys and will wear them throughout the entire month of October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month as they have the past few years. UCI will also promote Breast Cancer Awareness on their October 17 match at Anteater Stadium vs. UC Davis along with celebrating its seniors on that evening.
· Laila El Behery began u20 Women's World Cup qualifying with the Egyptian under-20 National Team. In the opening match of the second round against the Republic of Congo, the sides drew, 0-0. The second leg of the round takes place in Brazzaville, Congo on October 9 . 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.
· UCI has seen a lot of firsts in 2021 with nine different players recording their first career point, 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 13 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.
 
2 - 2 Anteaters joined national teams - Laila El Behery with Egypt u20 and Jessica Miclat joins Philippines
58 - The Anteaters have taken home 58 Big West points over the past four seasons, most of any Big West school
21' - UCI has scored 12 of its 20 goals in the first 21 minutes of the half including a 66th-minute goal in each of the last 2
7 - Anteaters have taken home 7 Big West Player of the Week awards with Laila El Behery's 2nd this week
13th - UCI's win over Cal was its first in the 13th all-time meeting, and coach Juniper's 13th result vs. the Pac-12
5-3 - UCI finished non-conference 5-3 for the 9th time under coach Juniper with 5 non-conf. wins and a winning record

This Week's Match
· The Anteaters and Beach return to the soccer pitch for the first time since 2019 which was a 2-1 UC Irvine win at home. Six Anteater starters return from that match including Amber Huff who drained a free kick for the game-winner in the 69th minute completing a comeback from a 1-0 halftime deficit.
· The sides matchup for the 29th time with UCI holding a 13-9-6 lead in the series. The sides played to a 0-0 draw in the Spring of 2020. The sides are almost even at Long Beach with five LBSU wins, four UCI wins, and five draws in 14 matches there.
· Long Beach State is 6-4-2 to this point and unbeaten in conference play at 3-0-1. They have some notable results including a win over Pepperdine who currently ranks in the top-10 nationally. In addition, they've defeated San Diego State, drawn with Washington, and had close losses to UCLA , Cal, and USD. The Beach puts out a consistent offense with 15 goals led by the duo of Lena Silano's nine goals and four game-winners, and Kaylee Ramirez adding six assists. The defense really powers the Beach with the Big West's best save percentage and goals-against-average from the duo of Morgan Houston-Shepherd and Zora Standifer who has played in each of the last three matches.
· The Black & Blue Rivalry Series is in its 15th season reprising from the 2019-20 season that was cut short with LBSU leading, 15-9. This match kicks off the 2021-22 campaign presented by Duke's.

2021 So Far
· UCLA allowed its first goal this past weekend since the season opener when the Anteaters scored in a 3-1 loss. The Bruins had shutout Oregon, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, San Diego State, and Santa Clara following their meeting with UCI.
· 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 nine goalscorers, seven have recorded their first career goals in Sophie Gillies, Desiree Mendoza, Chloe Ragon, Alyssa Moore, Laila El Behery, Lilli Rask, and this week adding Destinee Manzo. Five of them posted their first collegiate points along with four others who did so on assists; Maddy Chavez, Autumn Thompkins, Gianna Creighton, and Mihaela Perez.
· Chloe Ragon scored her first two goals of her career, both accounting for game-winners vs. Southern Utah and again a 102nd-minute double overtime winner against CSUN.
· 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
· 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 - 3.36), shots on goal per game (2nd - 1.91), and shot accuracy (2nd - 56.8%).
· Two veterans lead the way in matches played with scoring leader Scarlett Camberos with 46 matches under her belt, 29 as a starter, and midfielder Amber Huff, playing 45 career matches. The leader in starts is Alex Jaquez with 30 in 40 matches.
· As alluded to, Camberos leads all active Anteaters with eight goals scored now after her first career brace vs. Cal State Fullerton, and six assists for 22 points total. Overall, the team returned 50% of their goals scored in 2019.
· Glo Hinojosa has recorded all five UCI wins in 2021 including her first two career shutouts. She's stopped 21 shots in her eight matches along with a Big West-best 0.92 goals-against-average. Together with Taesja Paopao, the keepers have a .676 save percentage stopping 36 shots and allowing 3 total goals.
· 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 140 wins, three Big West titles, and a Big West-best 58 points over the last four 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
· 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.