IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer had all facets working Wednesday night in Anteater Stadium to sew up a 2-0 win against Sacramento State in the Big West First Round matchup.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Anteaters (6-11-2, 5-3-1) were on the front foot leading the attack with the first nine matches of the match. The third was on point leading to the opening goal.
In the 15th minute, Francesco Montanile busted into the offensive third along the left wing before centering to Diego Otoya. Otoya made the easy decision to leave a pass to All-Big West First-Teamer Ashish Chattha who lifted a curler up and in for the 1-0 Anteater lead.
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The defense was at its best as well allowing just two first half shots. One of those was turned on frame that Luke Pruter dealt with.
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DRIVING IT HOME
Sac State (9-8-2, 4-5-0) turned on the offense with more chances in the second half. Even while putting up seven shots to UCI's five, but the Anteater defense was keen to it blocking a majority of their attempts. Pruter got on the end of a pair including a diving stop on a long-range shot for his second of three saves on the night.
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UCI's attack continued to pressure and broke through for a huge insurance goal on a perfectly placed cross. Robert Mejia and Eddy Berumen played off each other along the right wing before Berumen whipping in a cross from the touchline connecting with Diego Otoya on a leap for a 2-0 advantage in the 71st minute.
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FINAL SCORE: UC IRVINE 2, SACRAMENTO STATE 0
UC Irvine continues their late season run now unbeaten in their last five matches and building a home win streak of five matches. Just as important, UCI is moving on to the Big West Semifinal for a second straight year and improve to 11-4-3 all-time in the tournament and pick up their eighth tournament win in Anteater Stadium.
The goal scorers beefed up their resumes with Chattha registering his eighth career goal and fourth game-winner. Otoya contributed to both goals with his second career assist on Chattha's goal and scoring one of his own late for his second career goal and first career three-point game.
Other contributors were Robert Mejia, Francesco Montanile, and Eddy Berumen all adding their third assists of the year.
In net, Pruter picked up his third shutout and second in a row to build a shutout streak of 216:54 along with three saves for 62 on the year.
Next up, the 'Eaters are on the road for the semifinal Saturday at UC Santa Barbara. Kickoff is at 7:00 p.m. for the sixth meeting between the school in the Big West Championship.
