WASHINGTON, D.C. --- UC Irvine men's soccer opened its 2021 season after 659 days between competitive matches, and hung tough with the fifth-ranked program in the nation, Georgetown, falling 2-1 Friday morning at Shaw Field.
LENGTHY DELAY
The match was initially scheduled for Thursday evening, but a combination of sweltering heat and thunderstorms washed away any action on Thursday. The teams picked up the match Friday at 11:30 a.m. in Washington, D.C.
The match was stopped on multiple occasions due to hydration breaks, and even a helicopter delay as is known to happen for games at Shaw Field.
HEARTY HALF
Each side had an early chance with
Ryan Khedoo having a shot blocked and
Ricardo Ibarra's shot on target saved while Georgetown (1-0) had a bulk of the shots with
Gordon Botterill stopping a pair in a half that finished scoreless.
HEATING UP
The offenses began to take over in the second half as the Hoyas poured on the shots. They broke through in the 50th minute as Ronan Dillow beat Botterill low to open up the scoring and lead, 1-0.
Georgetown continued to pepper Botterill and found a second goal. A long pass out of the back fell perfectly to John Franks who settled and dished for the goal and 2-0 lead in the 62nd minute.
The Anteaters (0-1) weren't out of it yet as they made a move for a comeback started by Botterill just over a minute later. A handball in the box put Preseason MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List member Dante Polvara on the spot, but his penalty kick was denied by Botterill keeping it a two-goal deficit.
Â
UCI marched back the other way looking to create chances, and did so in the 82nd minute drawing a foul just outside the box. Sophomore
Juan Barragan-Manzo stepped up making his collegiate debut just 20 minutes early, and pinpointed a perfect free kick off the height of the left post and in for the goal to draw the match within 2-1.
Â
FINAL SCORE: #5 GEORGETOWN 2, UC IRVINE 1
In the end, the fifth-ranked Hoyas proved too much and UCI's comeback began a little too late as for the second straight season the 'Eaters fell to Georgetown by a goal.
Botterill withstood 30 shots from Georgetown to stop 10 shots in his debut. He's the eighth different Anteater keeper to record a 10-save game in the 17th overall 10-save game for UCI, and the first since Greg Patenaude in a win at UC Davis in 2018.
Barragan-Manzo picked up his first career goal and points in his first career NCAA and UCI match. He was joined by seven total Anteaters to make their collegiate debuts along with
Victor Sandsmark-Evensen,
Francesco Montanile, and
Josh Kenworthy to all come off the bench,
Mathias Winum was another freshman as he made the starting XI, and redshirt freshmen
Mario Anaya and
Oscar Delgado made their collegiate debuts as starters. Botterill was one of three making their Anteater debuts along with
Ryan Khedoo in the starting lineup and
Ashish Chattha off the bench as transfers to the program.
The 'Eaters as a squad put up four shots with three on frame and the fourth blocked before reaching the target.
Mathias Winum led all Anteater field players with 82 minutes.
Thoughts from Head Coach Yossi Raz
"We have a new group with us this year, and we like to put ourselves in difficult positions to challenge the program early in season. The consequences of it from contending with the weather and a very quality opponent was the results and it was a tall task to start the year, but I saw a lot of positive elements from the team. There's still a lot to work on, but also some things we can take with us to the next match and continue to build on top of that."
SWINGING ON
The East Coast swing to start the season wraps up Sunday at 10:00 a.m. PT with one less day to recover before taking on Loyola Maryland. The Greyhounds will be opening their 2021 season Sunday as the side meet for the very first time. It's just the second Patriot League opponent the program will face joining Navy whom UCI hosted at Anteater Stadium in 2004.
