Big West Final Set for Saturday at UCSB

Saturday, November 13

Santa Barbara, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

UC Santa Barbara

ryan-khedoo-uci-msoc-2021-big-west-tournament-ucr-ucsb

Photo by: John Fajardo

Big West Final Set for Saturday at UCSB

November 11, 2021 | Men's Soccer

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

This Week in UC Irvine Men's Soccer
*UC Irvine (8-7-4, 6-1-2) vs. UC Santa Barbara (11-4-4, 6-1-2)*		Matchup
Saturday, November 13		Date
Santa Barbara, Calif.		Location
Harder Stadium	Tickets	*Fan Information*
Big West Tournament Final		Promotion
7:00 PM		Kickoff
ESPN+		How to Watch
Live Stats		Live Stats
*Anteaters*	*Gauchos*	Match Notes
Social Media: @UCImsoc @UCImsoc UC Irvine Men's Soccer #RipEm #TogetherWeZot

All-Big West Awards - 'Eaters Take Home Goalkeeper, Freshman, Coach of the Year

UCI returns to the Big West Final for the first time since 2014, sixth time overall, first under coach Raz, and fourth time against the vaunted Gauchos.

Storylines
· UC Irvine is in the Big West Final for the sixth time, first under head coach Yossi Raz and first since 2014. UCI and UCSB have met three times before, all UCI wins, as the 'Eaters search for their fifth Big West Tournament title and seventh trip to the NCAA Tournament.
· UCI improved to eight straight unbeaten (5-0-3) needing penalty kicks to advance past 6-seeded UC Riverside on Saturday. After a scoreless first half, UCI took the lead in the 67th minute on a own goal initiated from Christian Bond-Flasza. UCR equalized in the 72nd minute, but the 'Eaters jumped back in front in the 77th minute on a quick Francesco Montanile shot from the top of the box. The Highlanders sent the match to overtime with an 86th-minute goal knotted at 2-2. The match went to a shootout that was taken over by keeper Gordon Botterill stopping the first two shots while his shooters—Lawrence Yamaguchi, Jake Means, Beto Alvarenga, and Victor Sandsmark-Evensen—made all four attempts for a final berth.
· Botterill has been stellar in net all season topping the Big West with a 0.40 GAA and .909 save percentage in conference games. His season numbers of a .847 save percentage and 0.71 GAA ranks fourth and ninth, respectively. Botterill has been part of six of UCI's seven shutouts with five being solo clean sheets, and has been phenomenal on PKs stopping four of eight attempts in 2021. Luke Pruter has also contributed with two wins and a shutout, and matches with nine saves at USD and 13 saves in a loss at Stanford for the second-highest single-game total in program history. Together, Botterill and Pruter have UC Irvine at the top of the Big West leaderboard in saves (90), save percentage (.818) and shutouts (7).
· UCI's 2021 season has been a team effort with 19 different 'Eaters earning points. For 11 of them, it was their first career points, and of the 15 unique goal scorers, 11 have put home the first of their Anteater careers. In addition, six different players have delivered the eight game-winners. Overall, 11 'Eaters made collegiate debuts in 2021 with nine producing points.
· Former Anteaters have made big strides in the professional ranks recently, including Daniel Crisostomo, who has 17 appearances and five starts with LAFC this season. Alvaro Quezada was also drafted in the third round by LAFC, and has played alongside Crisostomo on one occasion. Roberto Molina 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.

6th - UC Irvine won a share of its 6th Big West regular-season title, 2nd now under head coach Yossi Raz
90 - UCI keepers lead the Big West with 90 saves between Botterill and Pruter, including three outings with 9+ stops
0 - UC Irvine has 0 losses to UCSB in Big West Tournament matches all-time (4-0-1), and 0 under coach Raz (1-0-3)
#1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with six on the 2021 roster and two now playing pro
5-0-3 - The Anteaters are unbeaten in 8 straight matches going 5-0-3 and outscoring their opponents 15-5 during that stretch
4th/9th - Gordon Botterill's ranks 4th nationally in save percentage and 9th in GAA to go with 4 saves in 8 PK chances this year

Big West Final
· UC Irvine is in the Big West Final for the sixth time in its 10th tournament appearance of the 13 Big West Tournaments that have been held. UCI has been successful in four of their five previous finals winning in 2008, 2009, and 2011—all against UC Santa Barbara—and winning against in 2013 vs. CSUN. Their other trip in 2014 went to PKs in which Cal State Fullerton advanced.
· UCI and UCSB have met in three finals, all resulting in UCI wins, and once at Harder Stadium. The last tournament meeting between the schools was a 2014 semifinal match at UCSB with UCI coming from behind to win, 3-2, and make UCI 4-0 in tournament matchups against the Gauchos. UCSB holds the all-time series lead at 33-18-6 including a 1-1 draw in their 2021 matchup at UCSB.
· UC Santa Barbara is right where everyone thought they would be—in the Big West Final. Projected to finish in a tie for first in the regular season, they did just that losing its regular season finale to CSUN to share the title with UCI. The Gauchos had gone 10 straight unbeaten before that including a draw with UCI. In non-conference, they scored seven on USD, picked up Pac-12 draws with Cal and Oregon State, and had one-goal losses to 12th-ranked schools Stanford and LMU.
· The Gaucho offense leads the conference with 39 goals and 19 in Big West matches as well as 75 Big West corners and 149 Big West shots. The quartet of Finn Ballard McBride, Thaabit Baartman, Ameyawu Muntari, and Salvador Aguilar each have at least five goals and 10 points, and each have netted three-or-more goals in Big West play, and 15 of the 24 assists have come from them. UCSB cooled a bit with just nine yellows in conference play after earning 30 in non-conference. The defense has been steady allowing 20 goals this year like the 'Eaters, and keeper Leroy Zeller is up there nationally with the most minutes at 1,853, the seventh-most shutouts, 11th-best save percentage, and 13th-most saves between the posts.

2021 To This Point
· UCI added its seventh and eighth weekly awards of the season with Ryan Khedoo being named the Big West Offensive Player of the Week and Gordon Botterill the Defensive Player of the Week following their performances in the 1-0 win at Cal State Fullerton. Khedoo scored the game-winner in the 62nd minute, while Botterill had six saves, including a diving stop on a Titan penalty kick with just over 11 minutes remaining. It was Botterill's third defensive accolade, while Khedoo joined Ashish Chattha, Beto Alvarenga and Kelvin Neumetzler as offensive honorees. Jake Means was also tabbed the Big West Freshman of the Week on Oct. 11.
· The Anteaters began the regular season going 0-4-1 with one goal scored, and entered Big West play at 2-6-1. Those losses included three on the road, three by one goal, and two vs. ranked squads. The tough non-conference competition paid off as UCI found its stride in Big West play where over the final seven matches, it went 5-0-2 and outscored its opponents, 13-3.
· UCI has a pair of five-goal matches this season, tying the most goals scored under head coach Yossi Raz. The 2021 Anteaters defeated Dixie State (Sept. 12) and CSU Bakersfield (Oct. 16), 5-0. The team's previous five-goal performance was in Coach Raz's first win in 2017, when they defeated Northern Kentucky, 5-2. In addition UC Irvine's five-goal margin of victory was the most since a 7-2 win over Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 23, 2010.
· In the 2021 Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll, the 'Eaters were projected to finish third behind UCSB and UC Davis, who tied for first. UCI was one of six teams to receive a first-place vote. The 11-player All-Big West Preseason squad also featured a pair of Anteaters for the third-straight season. Sophomores Eddy Berumen and Oscar Cervantes represented the 'Eaters after each finished 2019 as members of the Big West All-Freshman Team.

Student-Athlete Notes
· Among the new Anteaters is some international flavor including a pair of freshmen from Norway in Victor Sandsmark-Evensen and Mathias Winum, and four-year transfers Gordon Botterill, originally from Switzerland, and Ryan Khedoo, originally from Canada while also recently playing with the Guyana National Team. Luke Pruter grew up in Ireland, while the 'Eaters also have international ties to Mexico, India, Hong Kong, Japan and Germany.
· With no soccer in 2020-21, the 'Eaters still pushed through graduating five, and placing 16 on the Dean's List between Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. Eddy Berumen and Kelvin Neumetzler appeared on all three Dean's Lists in 2020-21. In 2019, Berumen, Beto Alvarenga and Lawrence Yamaguchi earned Big West All-Academic honors.
· Of the 22 'Eaters that have declared, 12 different majors are represented with the most common being Business Economics and Sociology/Social Ecology with six members each.
· The pair of grad transfers to the program will each be working towards their master's degrees during the season. Gordon Botterill begins the highly-acclaimed Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, while Ryan Khedoo is pursuing a Master's in Demographic and Social Analysis (DASA).
· A pair of Anteaters are currently double majors in Lawrence Yamaguchi for International Studies and Sociology, and Kelvin Neumetzler in Psychology and Business Economics.
· Among the other fields UCI men's soccer players 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
· Kelvin Neumetzler leads the Anteaters with five goals and 12 points. His team-best goal total has come on only 16 shots (.500 SOG%). Ashish Chattha ranks second with four goals and 10 points, while Oscar Delgado, Ricardo Ibarra and Oscar Cervantes are tied for the team lead with three assists each.
· Goalkeeper Gordon Botterill ranks fourth in all of NCAA Division I with a .814 save percentage, and is ninth in goals against average (0.71). He has logged 1,396 minutes in between the posts and earned six of the team's eight wins.
· Two veterans lead the way in matches played with fifth-year forward Lawrence Yamaguchi at 67 matches (25 starts), and Michael Orozco at 58 (49 starts). Others include Beto Alvarenga - 20 starts in 49 caps, Axel Adler - 44 caps with nine starts, and 14 starts in 40 career appearances for Christian Bond-Flasza.
· Returning to the roster are 13 Anteaters, including 10 that played minutes for UCI prior to the 2021 season. Michael Orozco was the Anteaters' career scoring leader entering the campaign with three goals and eight points. Joining the 13 returners are 14 newcomers; seven who joined the squad in 2020 for the season that never happened, and seven more joining the fold for 2021, including 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 is in his fifth year with the program and fourth season of competition (2020 season was canceled). Raz is 34-27-13 in his three-plus seasons at the helm without any losing campaigns. His teams have won two Big West regular-season titles (2018, 2021) and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2018.
· 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 six are still 'Eaters in Eddy Berumen, Kwabena Boateng, Mario Anaya, Rafael Espinoza, Ricardo Ibarra, and Oscar Cervantes.
· Joining coach Raz on the sideline in 2021 is a reformed coaching staff led by Cale Rodriguez as top assistant coach. Yonha Adrabi has been elevated from volunteer goalkeeper coach to assistant. Joining the program 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.