UC Irvine returns after a share of its sixth Big West regular season title to host a pair of exhibition tune-ups against San Diego State and Cal State San Bernardino at home this week.

Head Coach Yossi Raz provided some insight on the program entering this fifth season as an Anteater breaking down these five things to watch for.

Five Things to Watch
1 -  UC Irvine 2022 slate will challenge the Anteaters starting with the first of a pair of Pac-12 foes, UCLA, on the road in the opener before opening Anteater Stadium against Cal, Friday, September 2, in a doubleheader with the women's side following. UCI has five NCAA Tournament participants from 2021 on the ledger including a trip to No. 16 national seed New Hampshire in addition to Vermont in mid-September. The 'Eaters match up with six teams within the top 50 RPI from a year ago, two visiting Anteater Stadium in LMU (No. 34) and Cornell (No. 45), and an overall average RPI of non-conference opponents at 42

"Cal is obviously a great program with a lot of tradition in soccer. We went to them a few years back and this is our opportunity to host. With a new coaching staff, they are going to be a quality side that's shown they are going to progress and move forward, and I'm expecting this match to be very difficult. It's not easy to compete with a Pac-12 school, always competing on the West Coast and also on the recruiting trail. It will be a great environment, it's a double header with the women playing after us and we're expecting to be a special night, gathering the alums that night and welcoming everyone to join us."

"Competitive people want to compete against the best; you want to validate yourself amongst others that are great in what they do. We are very lucky that other programs see a game against UC Irvine as a good opportunity, and stylistically we are fun to compete against that we are fortunate for. The job of non-conference is to get off to a good start, get ranked high nationally, and this will allow us to do that if we are successful. It's one thing to schedule it, it's another to go out and win those games. Ultimately, we know that the games and experience of non-conference will set us up to compete in the tough Big West environment. I think we have one of the toughest schedules in the country, at least top 10 or 15 in terms of toughness, and that what makes us exciting. Last year, it may have bit us when our record didn't look quite as good, but it helped us prepare for what was coming in conference. This year, hopefully we learn from that get off to a better start."

2 - UC Irvine returns four award winners including the Big West Freshman of the Year Case Montanile. The Anteaters also had the Big West Goalkeeper of the Year, Gordon Botterill, who has since graduated, and of the six All-Big West honorees, four return Montanile joined by first-teamer Ashish Chattha, fellow second-teamer and All-Freshman honoree Mathias Winum, and honorable mention Ricardo Ibarra. Weekly awards were won by Anteaters eight times in 2021 with two award winners returning in the form of Chattha taking home on offensive award and Jake Means earning the program's first and only Big West Freshman of the Week accolade.

"As coaches across the conference, we all felt like the Big West was not as competitive as it tends to be, and we all know it will be more competitive this upcoming year. The idea is to build and exceed where we were last year and compete in the Big West for a championship in the regular season and tournament. We're looking forward to next year with a lot of returners that understand how the Big West feels and a lot of newcomers that will help us enhance our talents and depth in the locker room."

3 - The Anteaters scored 29 goals with 30 assists in 2021 and they return 14 of those goals and 16 assists with top scorers in Chattha (4 G, 2 A), Means (3 G, 1 A), and Montanile (2 G, 2 A) in addition to three assists from Oscar Cervantes that tied for the team lead.

"We want to be a great offensive team to begin with. Every year we start to prepare, we always want to entertain. We believe that the game should be entertaining so we're always going to look to send numbers forward and be expansive and creative and move toward scoring more goals - it's something that's in the DNA here at UC Irvine. Last year that didn't quite happen early on, but there wasn't more emphasis this year, it's something we do every year. I think we will score a lot of goals this year. I think the boys will be fun to watch."

4 - Defensive forces Kwabena Boateng, Ricardo Ibarra, and Josh Kenworthy are back on the backline with Boateng and Ibarra leading the 2021 Anteaters in minutes at 1,757and 1,426, respectively, and Kenworthy joining as the 1 of the 8 Anteaters to play over 1,000 minutes and 1 of 4 to returning with Boateng, Ibarra, and Francesco Montanile.

"To be successful in 2022, we're going to have to be united, work hard, understand our roles individually and collectively. We need to play the game the right way, the way we see it as right, and be disciplined to that. We also have to enjoy ourselves while doing that, every game will have ups and downs in the 90 minutes, but I think we're ready for the challenge ahead. We have a nice, mature locker room looking forward to competing. The staff has been here for a long cycle now that understand NCAA competition and how things feel at this high level. As a staff, we are clear with our roles. We added JJ to it and have a great support staff supporting us in what they need to do. Everyone needs to be focused, do it with all their heart, enjoy the process, and I think we'll look back at the end having enjoyed this year."

5 - UC Irvine's group of 10 newcomers could make instant impacts for the Anteaters starting with grad transfer and 2021 Big West Midfielder of the Year, Roberto Mejia, who had his best year with UC Davis in 2021 scoring five times with six assists. Transfers Connor Manning, Samuel Atiye, and Kellan Barry all have the experience to pick up right where they left off, and freshmen could follow in the footsteps of Montanile's freshman of the year campaign like Diego Otoya from the MLS Next Pro League and Swedish sensation Agaton Pourshahidi who gets to flex his skills after joining the program in the Winter with Atiye.

"We have a class that were voted No. 1 nationally back in 2019 and that class is now growing into the older voices in the locker room and that's exciting to us. When you add to that the talented young players that got minutes last year we're excited when you put them all together, and they're more savvy of what it means to be an NCAA player, playing in the Big West, and the demands of UC Irvine in the athletic department and as a prestigious institution. Adding a talented freshman class and incoming transfers to all of that including the Big West Midfielder of the Year Robert Mejia, we're very excited about that. All of this right now is on paper, we need to go out in the preseason and mesh well together and understand the demands of what's coming and the roles for each of us and do something special for the department."