IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer stepped on the gas in its home opener Sunday afternoon at Anteater Stadium rolling the Southern Utah Thunderbirds, 6-0.

LEADING LADIES
The Anteaters (1-1) were on the attack from the get-go starting with the match's first goal in the 14th minute. A brilliant buildup from Alex Jaquez to Sophie Gillies to Alyssa Moore was followed by a coolly slotted pass across the box to Chloe Ragon who put home the opener in the 14th minute.

A second goal followed quickly in the 16th minute as Scarlett Camberos charged down the right wing and fed into the box. After a couple deflections, the final one hit off Sophie Gillies and right into the net to make it 2-0 Anteaters.

The 'Eaters commanded the first half of play with all nine shots, four on frame, and eight of the nine corner kicks.

RIDING HIGH
The offense continued for the Anteaters in the second stanza. Alyssa Moore again made a move cutting and streaking down the right wing feeding through to Laila El Behery. She tracked down the pass, won the ball, got up, and turned to goal firing masterfully inside the far post to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 54th minute.

Moore would get her own goal taking advantage of a miscue in the attacking in the 61st minute and finishing inside the far post from the top of the box for a 4-0 advantage.

A fifth Anteater goal came on a penalty as a foul in the box put Scarlett Camberos to the spot in the 71st minute, and she converted to make it 5-0.

The final goal was another team effort in the 82nd minute. Gianna Creighton put a ball out to Autumn Thompkins on the right wing as she lofted a marvelous cross right in the mixer, and Lilli Rask stuck her foot out ahead of the defender nudging the ball home for a 6-0 lead.

FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 6, SOUTHERN UTAH 0
The six-goal output are the most since October of 2010 when the 'Eaters last scored six times, also a 6-0 win over UC Davis which also came in Anteater Stadium. The important first shutout of 2021 came at the hands of keeper Glo Hinojosa who stopped three Southern Utah (1-1) shots. The win for her is the first of her career and first shutout.

Of the six goalscorers, four produced their first career goals. Ragon's opener proved to be the game-winner, and was her first goal and point as an Anteater.

"We connected like three or four passes and then suddenly I had the ball, and then I had a wide open net and just finished. I'm more of a type of player that sets up my teammates for assists so I didn't really know how to celebrate, there was a little shock. But in the end, teamwork made the dream work."

El Behery put home her first career goal in just her second match after she had an assist in the opener at UCLA.

"It feels very different to get an actual goal here at UCI, my first one here. It's a good feeling."

Moore had four points on the afternoon with two assists and her first career goal, firsts in all categories for the second-year Anteater.

"Scoring in the exhibition at Saint Mary's was actually a lot more special because it was my first game since coming back from my injury, but this one was also very important because it counts on the scoreboard for real."

Rask's goal is her first in college after two years at the University of Oregon and recording just one assist.

"It was a pretty special goal for me because Autumn and I are housemates, and its always nice to see a freshman like her get a ball in there like that. I saw the ball come across and I knew I had to step in front of the defender to finish and it happened."
 
Other firsts included first career points for Thompkins and Creighton each putting up an assist in the final goal. Camberos upped her career point total to 14 with a goal and assist on Sunday. Its the third career game with one of each. Gillies scored and assisted as well giving her five points in her first two career matches.

New faces in the lineup included Mihaela Perez making her first career start in just her second match. Making collegiate debuts on Sunday were India native Aveka Singh along with Maddie Lauro both off the bench.

Southern Utah fell to 1-1 on the season. Jennifer Kovisto started and played 71 minutes allowing four of the goals while stopping two. Megan Short entered for the final 20 minutes stopping one shot. Kamryn Farro had all four shots for SUU, three on target.

UCI defended home field now at five straight matches in Anteater Stadium without a loss (4-0-1) including wins in their last two matches dating back to 2019.

Moore and El Behery spoke on the team effort and result:

Alyssa Moore - "I think we learned our lesson coming out of the UCLA game. We really learned from that and came out from the start playing 100% this game."

Laila El Behery - "I'm just proud of the team because the first half of UCLA, we weren't that good, but we stuck together through the second half and maintained the score. This match we came in strong from the beginning which was very good and great to score six goals."

BUSY WEEK
The 'Eaters have two more matches on the horizon for the coming week. Up first is a trip to San Diego to face the Toreros Thursday afternoon, August 26, with kickoff at 3:00 p.m. The week finishes with a home match Sunday, August 29, kicking off at 6:00 p.m. against CSUN in a non-conference contest.