LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer opened its 2021 season at fifth-ranked UCLA Thursday afternoon on Pac-12 Network in Wallis Annenberg Stadium, and the Bruins scored the 3-1 win.
NEW ON THE SCENE
Over half of the UCI (0-1) squad is new to the team in 2021 including three in the starting lineup as freshmen
Sophie Gillies,
Desiree Mendoza, and
Kiera Smeenge all made their collegiate debuts in the starting XI along with redshirt freshman
Alyssa Moore.
A total of 21 Anteaters saw the pitch in the opener with eight making their collegiate debuts in total.
Laila El Behery,
Marissa LeVine,
Autumn Thompkins, and the twins
Mihaela Perez and
Jenae Perez all earned minutes in their first matches.
Lilli Rask also made a debut, for UCI, after two years at the University of Oregon, and played 66 minutes.
STARTING BLOCKS
The 'Eaters were playing catch-up from early on in the match as UCLA (1-0) took the lead as Maricarmen Reyes nudged home a bounding ball through the box 2:30 into the match.
The Bruins quickly built a 3-0 lead as Reilyn Turner added a goal in the 15th minute, and then a ball off the crossbar in the 19th minute was headed home by Mia Fishel digging a deep hole for the Anteaters.
LATE CONNECTIONS
The 'Eaters held the line in the second half as neither side could find another goal for the next 70 minutes of the match until the 89th minute.
UCI began to build in the back before left back
Destinee Manzo punted a ball forward to the UCLA backline, but the freshman El Behery swiped it from the defender and fed across to a wide open Gillies to slot home an Anteater goal with 64 seconds left in regulation.
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FINAL SCORE: #5 UCLA 3, UC IRVINE 1
The points for El Behery and Gillies are the first officially of their Anteater careersl El Behery assisted on a goal in the exhibition win at Saint Mary's while Gillies scored five times in the unofficial spring season earlier this year.
Taesja Paopao earned her third career start in goal taking the loss despite three saves.
Alex Jaquez made her 20th career start which leads the team and first on the back line. Matches played leaders
Scarlett Camberos and
Amber Huff each added to theirs now at 36 and 35, respectively.
UCLA led in most stat categories including 15-6 in shots, however, UCI had a higher percentage on target with four total to UCLA's six.
ON THE HORIZON
Next up is a chance to shake off the loss with the home opener, Sunday, August 22. A 1:00 p.m. kickoff between the 'Eaters and Southern Utah in the third-ever meeting of the programs, and it will be broadcasted on ESPN+ for the first time in Anteater Stadium as will all UCI soccer home games for 2021.
