IRVINE, Calif. - The second-seeded UC Irvine men's soccer team is headed to the Big West championship match after defeating No. 6 seed UC Riverside in penalty kicks (4-2) in Saturday's semifinal at Anteater Stadium.
 
After 110 minutes of action, the two teams were locked in a 2-2 tie, sending the game to a shootout. Gordon Botterill came up huge with diving stops on the Highlanders' first two attempts, while Lawrence Yamaguchi, Jake Means, Beto Alvarenga and Victor Sandsmark-Evensen were all successful from the penalty spot to send the 'Eaters to the title match for the sixth time in program history, and first since 2014.
 
"It's one of those situations you don't necessarily want to be in, but as a goalkeeper, you have to be ready for it," Botterill said. "I made a couple mistakes, but the boys stepped up and buried all of ours, and that's really what won it. I'm just glad to have had a positive impact on the result at the end of the day."
 
TAKING CONTROL
UC Irvine (8-7-4) took control early with three shots in the first seven minutes, including an attempt by Ryan Khedoo that forced UC Riverside keeper Carlos Gonzalez into a diving save. The Anteaters kept the pressure on, closing out the first half with a lopsided advantage in shots (9-2) and shots on goal (4-0).
 
One of UCI's best looks came in the 37th minute when Alvarenga sent a free kick around the wall, but Gonzalez was there for another diving stop. The rebound then went to a wide-open Axel Adler who got a shot off from six yards out, but Gonzalez was able to get a hand on the ball to knock it out of harm's way.
 
SCORING FLURRY
The 'Eaters continued to dominate in the second half, putting up 12 more shots. Alvarenga nearly had his fourth goal of the year, but his attempt was cleared off the line by a UCR defender at the 60:03 mark, keeping it scoreless.
 
UC Irvine finally broke through just over six minutes later on an own goal. Christian Bond-Flasza created the opportunity as he beat his defender in the box for a shot that was stopped once again by Gonzalez, but this time the rebound bounced off the Highlanders and to the back of the net.
 
That started a flurry of scoring as UC Riverside (9-7-3) responded with Jonick Pineda tying it up in the 72nd minute. Five minutes later the Anteaters were back on top thanks to a goal from Francesco Montanile. Montanile dribbled his way through two defenders before firing a shot to the lower left netting. The Highlanders wouldn't go down quietly, however, as they evened it up at 2-2 on a goal from Roberto Garcia-Vargas at the 85:15 mark.
 
FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 2, UC RIVERSIDE 2 (UCI ADVANCES ON PKS, 4-2)
The score remained tied at 2-2 through the final five minutes of regulation and two overtime periods, sending the semifinal match to a shootout. UCR stepped up to the spot first, and Botterill set the tone, diving to his left for the stop. He also came up with a save on the next PK he faced, allowing UC Irvine to go up, 2-0. Although UC Riverside connected on its next two, the 'Eaters sealed the win with penalty goals from Alvarenga and Sandsmark-Evensen.

The Anteaters moved to 5-1-2 in Big West semifinal matches, and advance to the final for the sixth time in program history. They are unbeaten in Big West championship games where they are 4-0-1.

"I'm proud to be the head coach of this group," said Yossi Raz. "We came a long way, we had to put in a lot of work to get to where we are at, and I'm very proud we prevailed against a quality opponent. UC Riverside was knocking on double-digit wins for a reason; they have an excellent staff and a lot of talented players, so we're happy we are moving on to the next one."
 
No. 2 seed UC Irvine will now head to top-seeded UC Santa Barbara as the Big West co-champions will battle for the tournament title next Saturday, Nov. 13.