Anteaters Square Off with Wisconsin in NCAA Second Round Match

Friday, November 19

Fairfax, Va. (George Mason University)

10:30 AM PT

UC Irvine

Wisconsin

Anteaters Square Off with Wisconsin in NCAA Second Round Match

November 17, 2021 | Women's Soccer

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

This Week in UC Irvine Women's Soccer
*UC Irvine (16-5, Big West Champs 8-2) vs. Wisconsin (9-5-6, Big Ten at-large)*		Matchup
Friday, November 19		Date
Fairfax, Virginia		Location
George Mason Stadium	Tickets: $10 (cash only)	*Fan Information*
NCAA Second Round		Promotion
10:30 AM PST / 1:30 PM EST		Kickoff
ESPN+		How to Watch
Live Stats		Live Stats
*Anteaters*	*Badgers*	Match Notes
Social Media: @UCIwsoc @UCwsoc UC Irvine Women's Soccer #RipEm #TogetherWeZot

Awards Central 2021

The Cinderella Anteaters continue to the Second Round for a second time in program history traveling to Fairfax, Va. for a matchup with Big Ten at-large, Wisconsin, on Friday.

OC Register article by Mark Whicker

Storylines
· The Anteaters pulled off the seismic upset of No. 2-seed UCLA Friday night, 1-0, to advance to the Second Round. Alyssa Moore's header from Destinee Manzo in the 14th minute was all UCI needed to hand UCLA its first loss of 2021 and first in 26 matches. The Bruins had yet to allow their opponent to score first, yet to trail at halftime, and yet to trail at any point at home in 2021 until the Anteaters did all those Friday night. Glo Hinojosa stopped a career high seven shots, and her and her defense posted its 10th shutout of the year extending a shutout streak to 532:03. Hinojosa's efforts were recognized by Top Drawer Soccer naming her the Player of the Week, and the team was featured on the front page of ncaa.com
· The Anteater offense runs through Scarlett Camberos who had an eight-match point streak through Big West play for a program record. During that stretch, the Big West Offensive Player of the Year had nine goals and three assists for 21 points. She produced the 15th and 16th hat tricks in program history at Hawai'i (Oct. 14) and at CSU Bakersfield (Oct. 21), joining Hall-of-Famer Nicole Bucciarelli as the only 'Eaters all-time with multiple three-goal games. Camberos also jumped into a tie for third among UC Irvine's single-season leaders in both goals (13) and points (33). She is the first 10-goal scorer for the Anteaters since Laura McGrail in 2014, and the has the program's fifth individual campaign with 13 or more goals scored. Camberos earned Big West Offensive Player of the Year honors helped by a conference-best 13 goals, 33 points, and a team-high seven assists.
· Glo Hinojosa joined Camberos with the major awards earning Big West Goalkeeper of the Year. She leads the Big West with 16 wins, 10 shutouts, and a 0.66 goals against average. . Maddy Chavez earned the Anteaters a third major award as Big West co-Defensive Player of the Year, and topped it off as the program's first Big West Tournament MVP.
· Camberos and Amber Huff both surpassed 50 career matches played over the final week of the regular season. Alex Jaquez joined them with her 50th match played on Friday making 93 Anteaters all-time with 50+ matches played. Nine 'Eaters have also logged over 1,000 minutes in 2021, led by Gianna Creighton at 1,872. Camberos also has 1,813 minutes played, and is joined by Glo Hinojosa, Maddy Chavez, Chloe Ragon, Lilli Rask, Destinee Manzo, Alex Jaquez and Kiera Smeenge with Alyssa Moore seven minutes away.

2-0-1 - UCI is unbeaten (2-0-1) in 3 NCAA First Round matches - 2010 win vs. Arizona State, 2011 tie vs. USD, 2021 win at UCLA
2nd - UCI won its 2nd Big West Tournament, first since 1997, and earned a 3rd trip to the NCAA Tournament as a program
532:03 - Keeper Glo Hinojosa has built a shutout streak of 532:03, and is 1 of 14 keepers in the NCAA with at least 10 shutouts
13 - Anteaters took home 13 Big West Player of the Week awards in 2021; 4 offensive,
2 defensive, and 7 freshman honors
20 - 20 Anteaters have recorded a point in 2021 along with 14 different goal scorers and 10 scoring their first-ever goal
8 - UCI's 8 straight road wins tie a program record, and the 16 wins in a season are second-most behind the 19 in 2010

NCAA Tournament
· UC Irvine's third trip to the NCAA Tournament began with a bang down No. 2 national seed and No. 3 nationally ranked UCLA for UCI's first win over UCLA since 1995 and first-ever win at their place. UCI remains unbeaten in NCAA First Round matchups with wins in 2010 and 2021 and a draw in 2011.
· On to the Second Round with Big Ten competitor, Wisconsin, on the docket. They defeated Butler at home, 2-1, with a 75th-minute goal. For the Badgers, they're in the tournament for a 23rd time winning their 21st match to advance to the Second Round for a 14th time and fifth straight tournament doing so.
· The Badgers are 9-5-6 in 2021 and is 1 of 6 Big Ten squads in the tournament despite finishing eight in the conference, and have no common opponents to UCI. The Badgers have been led by Paula Wilkins for 15 years now including two College Cup appearances in 2002 and 2005. UW this year is averaging just over a goal a match with Emma Jaskaniec (8 G, 4 A) and All-Big Ten Natalie Viggiano (7 G, 3 A) leading the way. The defense is stellar allowing just 15 goals from keeper Jordyn Bloomer (71 sv, 0.71 GAA) and a pair of All-Big Ten defenders, Macy Monticello and Aidan McConnell.
· UCI and Wisconsin have never met. The 'Eaters have two all-time meetings with the Big Ten losing at Nebraska in 2005, 2-1, and a 2-1 loss vs. Indiana in 2014 playing at the University of Auburn. This marks UCI's fourth-ever trip to the East Coast. In addition to that 2014 trip to Auburn to player Indiana and the Tigers, UCI began the 2014 season at Virginia. In 2015, UCI flew to Florida to split a pair of non-conference matchups at Florida International (L, 0-2) and Florida Atlantic (W, 1-0).
· If the 'Eaters win Friday, their Third Round matchup will be in Washington, D.C. against the winner of Georgetown vs. Santa Clara. Georgetown is a No. 3 seed and Big East champs at 14-1-6 defeating Central Connecticut in the First Round. Santa Clara are the defending National Champions at 12-5-2 after winning the West Coast Conference and defeating Stanford at home, 1-0, in the First Round.

2021 Season Notes
· UC Irvine women's soccer secured an elusive Big West Tournament title defeating Cal Poly, 1-0, to win the program's second tournament, first since 1997. The finishing blow came from senior Alex Jaquez, the 14th-different goal scorer for UCI this season, and her third career goal; all registering as game-winners. UCI earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, first since 2011. In addition, the 'Eaters earned a share of the regular season title, the fourth in the program's history.
· UC Irvine's 16 overall victories are the most in the Big West and marks the second time they've won as many as 16 in a year joining the 2010 squad's 19. It marks the eighth 10-win campaign in coach Juniper's 14 seasons at the helm. UCI has also secured its 10th winning season in that span.
· On Sept. 16, the Anteaters earned their first win against Cal in the programs' 13th all-time meeting. On the road, the 'Eaters handed the Golden Bears, who were receiving votes in the national polls at the time, their first loss of the season. In the 1-0 double-overtime victory, it was Julia Gonzalez who netted the game-winner in the 104th minute. It was the 13th result under head coach Scott Juniper against the Pac-12 (9 wins, 4 draws), and first win over a Pac-12 school since Oregon in 2017.
· Of UCI's 14 goal scorers, 10 have recorded their first career tally in Sophie Gillies, Desiree Mendoza, Chloe Ragon, Alyssa Moore, Laila El Behery, Lilli Rask, Destinee Manzo, Kiera Smeenge, 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.
· There have been 14 UCI debuts this season, 12 of which have been collegiate debuts, including four 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 in the African Women's Championship.
· 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. Most recently, Suus de Bakker recorded her first career goal and points at CSUN on Oct. 24. Two 'Eaters scored their first career points in that match against UCLA when Laila El Behery assisted on Sophie Gillies' goal.
· The Anteaters have 18 returners, including 15 who played minutes for UCI prior to the 2021 season. Joining the 18 returners are 18 newcomers, 15 of which are freshmen. Eight of those freshmen joined the squad in 2020, while 10 have joined the fold for 2021, including transfers from Oregon, Air Force, and Nevada.

Student-Athlete Notes
· With a canceled 2020 season, women's soccer still pushed through placing 47 student-athletes on the Fall, Winter, and Spring Dean's Lists. Fifteen different 'Eaters earned Dean's List honors in at least two quarters, and 10 were recognized for all three quarters including current players Maddie Lauro, Maddy Chavez, Sarah Javorsky, Kiera Smeenge, Destinee Manzo, Alyssa Moore, Sarah Ralston, and Halli Stewart.
· Eleven different majors are represented among the 29 'Eaters who have declared, with the most common being Sociology (10). Four Anteaters are also Public Health Policy majors. UCI 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 'Eaters are three Psychological Science majors, two newcomers as Biomedical Engineering majors, as well as Education, Film & Media Studies, Engineering, Social Ecology, and Literary Journalism.
· 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.

Stats To Watch
· Scarlett Camberos leads the team with 13 goals, seven assists, and 33 points. She also leads the conference in points, goals, shots on goals per game (2.1), and shot accuracy (61.8%). Her recent scoring surge has put her among the top-20 in the nation in goals (T16th) and points (T18th).
· Glo Hinojosa has recorded all 16 UCI wins in 2021 including her first 10 career shutouts; 1 of 14 keepers with 10 or more this season. She's stopped 62 shots, adding seven on Friday for a career high, and has posted a Big West-leading 0.66 goals against average. Hinojosa, who has posted five-straight shutouts, extended her season-long scoreless streak to 532:03.
· The team has eight road wins matching a program single-season best with the 2010 squad. The eight consecutive road wins also matches the program record that was set between the 2010 and 2011 teams.
· Head Coach Scott Juniper is back with his staff for his 16th year at UC Irvine and 15th at the helm. Juniper is the program's all-time winningest head coach with 149 wins and four Big West titles, while his teams have produced a Big West-leading 82 points (25-10-7) in conference play since 2016.
· The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll projected the Anteaters to finish in a tie for third with UC Santa Barbara. It was the fourth-straight year the 'Eaters were picked in the top four in the preseason poll. They 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.

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.