IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer returns to the NCAA Tournament, and will head back to UCLA to open their 2021 NCAA Tournament journey.

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The 'Eaters and Bruins play Friday, November 12, at 6:00 p.m. in Wallis Annenberg Stadium in first round action. The match will be shown online via Pac-12.com and the new, free-to-watch Pac-12 Insider channel. Tickets for Friday's first round match will go on sale at a later date. Tickets prices are $12 for adults and $10 for youth. Student tickets are $8 with valid ID. Groups of 10 or more can purchase tickets for $5/person.

UCI is in the NCAA Tournament for the third time as a program, first since 2011. The Anteaters earned the automatic berth out of the Big West by winning the Big West Tournament on Sunday over Cal Poly, 1-0. The 'Eaters also secured a share of the Big West regular season title, it's third all-time and third under head coach Scott Juniper.

"We're pretty well-rehearsed at playing a team twice in a season," noted the head coach heading to his third NCAA Tournament. "We are 4-0 in rematches this year. We've played them already to open the year; we were not good at the start of that game and quite good by the end of it. Our team today is a much better team than it was the first game of the season, and I can tell by the team's reaction that they're excited to get up there and prove that they can compete."

UCI and UCLA met in the season opener this year which fell the Bruins' way, 3-1, but UCI's goal stood as the only goal a non-conference opponent scored against UCLA and the only goal allowed by the unbeaten Bruins this year in their first nine matches.

The path beyond the first round sees UC Irvine and UCLA matched up with the winner of Wisconsin vs. Butler in the second round, and the quadrant rounds out with Georgetown, Central Connecticut State, Stanford, and reigning national champions Santa Clara.