RAFAEL ESPINOZA, team,
Matt Brown

Anteaters Finish Second, Reach Semifinals in 2022 Season

November 26, 2022

UC Irvine Anteaters
6-12-2 | 5-3-1 (16 pts)
Reached Big West Semifinal

Leading Scorers: Robert Mejia (4 G, 3 A, 11 P) | Ashish Chattha (4 G, 1 A, 9 P)
Top Assists: Francesco Montanile & Mario Anaya - 4
Leading Keeper: Luke Pruter - 19 G, 1,730 min, 1.56 GAA, 63 Sv, 5-12-2, 3 SHO
 
11th - The 'Eaters qualified for the Big West Championship for the 11th time and four times in coach Raz's five seasons
9th - UCI's non-conference strength of schedule was the 9th-toughest nationally including four teams with national votes
216:54 - The Anteaters had a 216:54 shutout streak down the end of the season with all three shutouts coming in Big West play
 #1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with six on the 2021 roster and two now playing pro
14.11 - UCI turned it on in conference play with 12 of their 20 goals and leading the Big West with 14.11 shots per game
71 - Anteater keepers snatched 71 saves, second-most in the Big West, with Luke Pruter posting 3 shutouts in Big West play
 
· UC Irvine returned to the Big West Championship reaching the semifinal before falling at UC Santa Barbara for a second straight year. In 14 Big West Tournaments, UCI has earned a berth 11 times including four of five years under head coach Yossi Raz and made it through to the semifinal three of those years
· UCI turned it on for conference play to finish in a tie for second place in the Big West with 16 points. Since the Big West returned to one division in 2018, UCI has finished in the top three in each season
· The 'Eaters played a tough schedule in 2022 finishing non-conference winless but against the ninth-strongest schedule. UCI played against two ranked teams on the road, five teams in the top 30 RPI, fell on the road by a single goal at current top-25 squads Vermont and UNH, and earned a draw in the final seconds against Cal.
· Five Anteaters claimed All-Big West honors led by senior Ashish Chattha on the First Team on the back of his First Team honor in 2021.
· Second Team All-Big West Anteaters were Robert Mejia making All-Big West for a third time in his career, first as an Anteater, and Ricardo Ibarra elevating from the Honorable Mention squads a year ago
· Anteater freshmen had some breakout performances starting with Diego Otoya and Agaton Pourshahidi each named to Big West All-Freshman. UCI has had multiple honorees in three straight seasons. Pourshahidi added a pair of Big West Freshman of the Week awards during the season as well joined by Nolan DiCenzo with an award in the season's final week from a game-winner and shutout
· UCI's offense found its groove in Big West play scoring 12 of their 20 goals with multiple goals in four matches. Robert Mejia and Ashish Chattha each scored four times with Mejia topping the team with 11 points and Chattha burying to GWGs. First career goals came for Samuel Atiye, Mario Anaya, and three freshmen
· UCI had 23 assists on 20 goals with Francesco Montanile adding his fourth in the Big West semi to tie for the team lead with Mario Anaya. Adding three assists each were also defenders Ricardo Ibarra and Eddy Berumen
· Anteater defense was led by keeper Luke Pruter pulling down 63 saves and three shutouts. Cody Aung made his collegiate debut and earned the win and the team's top save performance with eight against CSUN. Josh Kenworthy manned the backline with a team-best 1,738 minutes joining Montanile and Ibarra as the only Anteaters to start all 20 matches.
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