BWC-WPolo-Champs-2022

A Look Back: 20 Top Moments Of 2022

December 30, 2022

By: Stacey Shackleford

It's time to look back at all of the exciting things that happened at UCI Athletics in 2022. We haven't listed every upset or school record, but picked out 20 of our favorite moments of 2022. Enjoy!

Feb 8 – Kolbe Irei won the 2022 Orange County Collegiate Classic title, making him UC Irvine men's golf's first individual champion since 2017. Darien Zhao also had a top-three showing to lead the Anteaters to a runner-up finish in the team standings.

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Feb 19 – UC Irvine's distance medley relay team set a school record at the 2022 MPSF Women's Indoor Track & Field Championships. Cathy Salazar-Gasca, Amari Fraser, Emma McCarthy and Anna Vogtmann combined to run a program-best 11:46.87 in their first DMR.

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Mar 6 - In the 10th inning, Thomas McCaffrey pounded a solo home run to the opposite field for a 3-2 win over No. 13 Oregon State on the road.

 

Mar. 10 - Men's volleyball toppled No. 2 Long Beach State, 3-2 behind Cole Gillis' career-high 18 kills.  It was one of five wins over higher ranked teams in 2022.
 


Mar. 11 – Women's basketball defeated UC Davis, 84-75, in overtime to advance to the title game of the Big West Championship for the second consecutive year. UCI then earned an automatic bid to the WNIT for the first time in program history. The 'Eaters finished the season with a program-best 14 conference victories and tied a 37-year old school record with 21 overall wins.

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Mar. 22 – Women's golfer Angela Bagasbas fired a school record seven-under 65 on the final round of the Fresno State Classic helping the Anteaters catapult to second place finish. Her 65 matches teammate Megan Yang at the top of the record book. For the tournament, Bagasbas, who was a Big West second team honoree, tallied a tournament best 14 birdies and ended with a career-best third place finish individually at 213 (72-76-65).

 

Apr. 17 – Versus No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, women's tennis player Ysabel Gonzalez-Rico won her doubles match with Emily Fowler then at No. 1 singles she topped No. 88 Shakhnoza Khatamova, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8).
 

Apr. 23 – Women's water polo won the Big West title with an 11-8 victory over Hawaii at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.  It was the eighth Big West Tournament title for the Anteaters, earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for a seventh time in program history. UC Irvine never trailed and were led by the defense with seven steals, holding the Rainbow Wahine to their second-lowest scoring total of the season. Goalkeeper Jordan Frost was named Big West Championship MVP after a career-high eight saves. UCI also notched wins over then No. 4 Arizona State and then No. 4 Cal during the regular season.

 


May 1 – Men's tennis took down No. 1 seed and 55th-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 4-2, in the Big West Championship match for their fourth tournament title and first since 2011. It was the Anteaters' second consecutive ranked win as they also upset second-seed and No. 60 Cal Poly in the semifinals. Mike Saunders went on to earn Big West Coach of the Year honors, while Noah Zamora was tabbed the co-Freshman of the Year.

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May 2 – Darien Zhao carded a 2-under 214 to finish third at the 2022 Big West Men's Golf Championship. It was the best individual conference showing by an Anteater in four years. Zhao was recognized for his effort as he garnered first-team All-Big West honors.

 

May 14 – Women's track & field had their first top-three showing at the Big West Championships since 2014. Eight Anteaters earned all-conference honors as they had podium finishes in the 400m, 800m, 4x400 relay, 1500m, 10,000m, steeplechase, javelin and shot put.

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May 17 - UCI welcomed 1,580 fans to Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark to watch an 8-1 victory over No. 23 UCLA—the largest attendance since 2015 and 27th crowd of 1,500 or more in program history. The Anteaters swept the season series with the Bruins, beating then-No. 13 UCLA 4-2 in Los Angeles.  
 


June 9 – Josh Farmer finished 14th in the decathlon at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. He earned his second career USTFCCCA All-America honors with second-team recognition.
 


 

Sept. 24 - Men's water polo upset No. 9 San Jose State, 12-11 in overtime behind All-American Ethan Shipman's four goals. Under the direction of first year head coach Dan Klatt the Anteaters finished 16-13 overall, the first double-digit win total and highest conference finish (4th) since 2017. Tyler Padua joined Shipman as an All-American selection


 

 

Sep 28 – Men's soccer player Agaton Pourshahidi scored at 71:16 and 88:56 to finish a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Cal State Fullerton, 3-2.

 

Oct. 29 – Women's cross country claimed runner-up honors at the Big West Championships, finishing just one point shy of a conference-leading 13th title. It was their best showing at the league meet in 14 years. Three Anteaters earned All-Big West honors with Anna Vogtmann, Sameen Andar and Hannah Chau placing among the top-eight. Vogtmann bettered her own 6K school record at 19:52.8, while Andar had the program's second-fastest time at 19:57.6. Chau also moved up to No. 3 in UCI history at 20:01.0.

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Nov. 6 – Entering the Big West Championship as the No. 6 seed UC Irvine women's soccer team produced overtime wins at Cal State Fullerton, 2-0 and versus UC Davis, 1-0, before routing Black & Blue rival Long Beach State 3-0 in the final for the program's second straight championship victory, sending the squad back to the NCAA Tournament.  
 


Nov 11 – Lukas Amare became the first Anteater to break into the men's cross country 10K records since 1987. Amare's personal-best of 29:51.3 at the NCAA West Regional tied two-time All-American Ralph Serna for No. 3 in program history. He also ran UCI's third-fastest 8K, while Zeid Hussain matched a 16-year old school record with a PR 23:47.0 earlier in the season at the Bronco Invitational.
 
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Nov. 11 - Men's Basketball beat No. 21 Oregon 69-56 on the road at Matthew Knight Arena Guard DJ tied his then-career-high with 24 points. It was UCI's first win over a Pac-12 opponent since beating Washington 86-72 on Nov. 14, 2013 and the last win over a ranked team since topping Kansas State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019. It was also the first ranked road win since defeating No. 15 Stanford in 2005. The Anteaters were Andy Katz's National Team of the Week and received votes in the AP Poll on Nov. 14. Russ Turner's team would go on to win the Las Vegas Holiday Classic Invite after defeating Nicholls and New Mexico State. 
 


Nov. 12 – For the second consecutive year, women's soccer topped a high-ranked Pac-12 for in the NCAA First Round with Destinee Manzo's first half goal and Alyssa Moore's dagger in the 89th minute to drop 14th ranked USC, 2-0. Glo Hinojosa had a career-best eight saves against the Women of Troy.
 


Nov. 18 – UC Irvine would play Ivy League champion Brown in the NCAA Second Round and scored at the end of the first half on a goal by Alyssa Moore. The match went to penalty kicks tied at 1-1. Glo Hinojosa stepped up to save two PKs, while shootout goals by Tati Fung, Aislynn Crowder, Erin Covey and Emilie Castagna pushed the Anteaters through to the Third Round with a 4-2 win in the penalty shootout.
 

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