IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer made a strong push down the final minutes of the match to pull out a 2-0 win Wednesday night in Anteater Stadium topping UC Riverside in the opener of Big West play.

DEFENSIVE STANCE
The match was played primarily in the Anteater attacking third on the night with nearly 70% of the possession from either side on that half of the field. UCI (3-6-1, 1-0) pushed the envelope early looking to breakdown the Highlander defense, and were rewarded with seven first-half corner kicks.

UCI had a slight shot advantage, 4-2, through 45 minutes with two golden opportunities for goals. The 'Eaters broke through in the 27th minute finding Beto Alvarenga on the doorstep, but his shot was batted aside by UCR keeper, Carlos Gonzalez.

Another massive chance came in the 41st minute off a free kick. With the sides trading yellows, Ashish Chattha stepped up for a set piece just outside the box, and his sharp slicing shot clanged the near post staying out and preserving the scoreless match.

UC Riverside (5-4, 0-1) was on the front foot coming out of the halftime break applying the offense. The Highlanders had an identical chance to Ashish's first half chance with Dorian Morrison stepping to the ball. His initial attempt was blocked by the wall, but he found space on rebound from the half-circle and ripped a shot that Luke Pruter denied beautifully with a kick save to continue the scoreless match in the 56th minute.

RIDING THE WAVE
The chances continued to fall UCI's way, and finally in the 75th minute they found some daylight. The attack worked up the left wing through Michael Orozco and Francesco Montanile before it was directed through Kelvin Neumetzler back to the central midfield and Chattha. This time he did not miss winding up from 25 yards out and skipping a shot through and inside the near post by a diving Gonzalez for the goal and a 1-0 Anteater lead.

"It was a great build-up play. We did everything we trained for in practice and found it on the weak side, and I saw my opportunity to shoot and took my opportunity," noted Ashish Chattha dissecting the play.

The Highlanders were quick to look for an equalizer in the 88th minute. A foul along the right sideline gave the Highlanders a chance, and lead to a cross to an open Leopaldo Hernandez heading a ball on frame that Luke Pruter got to and used all his might to stop from crossing the goalline. The referee and linesman both gave a long look and concurred.

Pruter then turned around and punted a long ball to a streaking Lawrence Yamaguchi who beat his defender and put a head on it over the oncoming keeper trickling in over the line putting the game away, 2-0.

"I didn't even know it was from Luke," exclaimed a surprised Yamaguchi. "It landed in a perfect spot right in front of me, all I had to do was get my head on it. At the last moment I saw the defender coming as well so my timing couldn't have been better."

FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 2, UC RIVERSIDE 0
The Anteaters take three huge points to start conference play after coming off a 2-6-1 non-conference stretch. UCI increases its series lead over UC Riverside, now 14-4-2 at home and winners of the last five outscoring UCR 11-1 in that stretch.

Chattha's goal was his second of the season and first game-winner as an Anteater. Yamaguchi added his first of the season and third career goal in his 60th career match. Earning assists were a pair of freshmen registering their first career points, Francesco Montanile and Luke Pruter, and also Kelvin Neumetzler who upped his team lead in points to eight.

"I felt like we played very well the first half," Chattha explained. "We were building chemistry, playing with each other. Second half was a little more hectic; UCR looked stronger and we were a little flat-footed, but once the goals came we found it again."

Pruter once again was masterful in net needing just two saves this match to score a victory, his second, and first career shutout. Gonzalez on the UCR side falls to 5-4 making one save in the match.

"The first save, he hit it really well. I saw it late, but I set my feet and was able to get a foot on it," Pruter said breaking down his two top-class saves on the night. "I did not expect that second one to be headed that well, but he got it perfectly and luckily I was able to pin it against the post. The biggest thing heading into tonight was to get the clean sheet; we had a great chance of winning if we did that. For me and a bunch of us on the team, it was our first Big West game. We were resilient not to concede in the second half."

"We came off a tough preseason with six losses so a great start was important. The shutout was our emphasis, we know we cannot lose if we don't concede, and with our offense the goals are going to come like they did tonight."

ONWARD TO SACRAMENTO
The 'Eaters get a big win to open Big West at home joining UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, and CSU Bakersfield as victors on the day. Now, UCI is tested with a pair of road matches coming up including Sacramento State on Saturday, October 2. The Hornets drew at home with Cal Poly to begin their conference play, and the sides will look to pick a winner from a 3:00 p.m. kickoff in a series which has seen UCI and Sac State draw in each of the last two matches at Hornet Field.