28 - 28 Anteaters received some kind of academic honor in 2021-22 with 19 returning to the team in 2022
2nd - UCI won its 2nd Big West Tournament, first since 1997, and earned a 3rd trip to the NCAA Tournament as a program
#3 - The Anteaters defeated #3 UCLA in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, the highest-ranked win over an opponent
13 - Anteaters took home 13 Big West Player of the Week awards in 2021; 4 offensive,
2 defensive, and 7 freshman honors
544:57 - UCI's defense built a shutout streak of 544:57 that stretched through the NCAA Tournament and broke a program record
4 - The Anteaters are 1 of 4 schools with two sets of twins on their roster, 1 of 24 with twins, and 1 of 39 with a set of sisters
 
· The Big West Preseason Coaches Poll was posted Monday with the Anteaters projected to finish first. This is the first time UCI has been projected to win since 2018, and the 'Eaters finished third. The 2021 'Eaters that won the Big West were projected to finish third.
· Maddy Chavez was the lone Anteater and lone defender named to the 11-player Big West Preseason Team chosen by the coaches. Chavez finished as the co-Defensive Player of the Year and picked up the program's first Big West Tournament MVP honor.
· Three 'Eaters are considered players to watch according to the United Soccer Coaches. Chavez is 1 of 35 players named Defender to Watch, and is joined by Destinee Manzo as 1 of 38 Midfielders to Watch and Glo Hinojosa as 1 of 13 Goalkeepers to Watch.
· UCI completed two exhibition matches last week, both on the road. Tuesday, UCI and Cal Poly Pomona played to a scoreless draw. Friday night, UCI and USD played 110 minutes with the 'Eaters winning 2-0 on goals from Autumn Thompkins and Mia Colombini assisted by her twin.
 
· The 'Eaters are 12-20-3 all-time in season openers. Thursday's match with Cal will be the fourth time in the last five years UCI opens against a Pac-12 school. UCI hopes to snap a four-game losing streak in season openers with their last win coming in their last home opener in 2016. The 'Eaters have won their last two matches against Pac-12 schools including the win over Cal in 2021. Coach Juniper and the 'Eaters now have 10 wins and four draws against the conference in his 15 seasons at UC Irvine
· Anteater Stadium is expected to draw a large crowd Thursday. The stadium has drawn over 1,000 fans 25 times in its history, nine of those for the women's soccer program including the last time in 2018 when the program set the regular season record with 1,704 fans in the season-opening loss to USC
· Cal enters the season projected to finish sixth in the Pac-12. They lead the all-time series, 11-1-1. The 2021 Bears finished 8-7-3. The programs share a similarity in that each has a set of twins on roster, something only 24 program in the nation can claim.
· LMU opens their season Sunday at UCI looking to snap a three-match winless streak to UCI and 26-game losing streak overall last winning in February of 2021.
 
Five Things to Watch
· UC Irvine's defends their title and status with a home opener against a 2021 opponent they wronged in Cal of the Pac-12. UCI handed Cal their first loss of 2021 with the first win over the Golden Bears in program history as they look for a big push from the home crowd this time around on a Thursday night. Cal is 1 of 2 Pac-12 opponents UCI will face as it bookends non-conference play at USC who is the lone 2021 NCAA Tournament participant it matches up against.
· The trophy case was lined with Anteaters in 2021 with nine honored through All-West Region, All-Big West, or major conference awards. The 'Eaters return eight of those players including keeper Glo Hinojosa and Big West Tournament MVP Maddy Chavez who each of those honors as the Big West's top keeper and defender, respectively. Third-year Anteaters Gianna Creighton and Destinee Manzo were other All-West Region honorees that are back for the Anteaters, and the contingent is completed by All-Big West recipients Alex Jaquez and Chloe Ragon on the second team, honorable mention Alyssa Moore, and All-Freshman notables Sophie Gillies and Kiera Smeenge.
· A majority of UCI's production from a year ago returns that put up 123 points on 42 goals and 39 assists. Scarlett Camberos and her 13 goals and seven assists are the big blow now playing professionally for Club America in Mexico, however, 59% of the points return including two-thirds of the scoring and three-quarters of the assists with the quartet of Destinee Manzo, Alyssa Moore, Sophie Gillies, and Desiree Mendoza each contributing three or more goals and assists a year ago.
· UC Irvine's minutes leader is back in Gianna Creighton after 1,962 minutes last year as a defending mid and approaching 3,500 career minutes. She leads a crew of nine Anteaters returning to the fold of the 10 last season that played over 1,000 minutes with the likes of Chloe Ragon patrolling the midfield with her and a stout backline of 1,000-minutes players Maddy Chavez, Kiera Smeenge, Lilli Rask, and Alex Jaquez in front of Glo Hinojosa who posted 16 wins, 10 shutouts, and a program record shutout streak of 544:57 in 2021.
· With all the returning firepower, it's hard to think an incoming class could match that, but they might have. Two seismic transfers in Tati Fung, with one year under her belt at the University of Texas, and Aislynn Crowder, after two years at UCLA. The duo of native Hawaiians leads a talented group that includes English national Emilie Castagna and twins Ella Colombini and Mia Colombini from Northern California tof the 14 newcomers joining.

Student-Athlete Notes
· Women's soccer continued it's success in the classroom with an eighth Team Excellence Award honor by the United Soccer Coaches. The program was 1 of 175 across all divisions that earned the distinction within both women's and men's programs and 1 of 2 from the Big West represented along with UC Riverside.
· Academic standing was evident throughout 2021-22 with Anteaters picking up 48 Dean's List honors, 10 Big West Fall All-Academic nods, 23 UC Irvine Scholar-Athletes, and 25 named to the Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll led by eight 'Eaters that earned each distinction - Sophie Gillies, Maddie Lauro, Desiree Mendoza, Alyssa Moore, Gianna Creighton, Maddy Chavez, Destinee Manzo, and Kiera Smeenge. Thirteen Anteaters were Dean's List worthy in all three quarters with the aforementioned eight joined by Sarah Javorsky, Autumn Thompkins, Halli Stewart, Suus de Bakker, and Lilli Rask.
· Eleven different majors are represented among the 30 'Eaters who have declared, with the most common being Criminology, Law, & Society with five members. Majors like Education, Sociology, Psychology, and Public Health Science have four declared each in addition to majors with two each - Biology and Biomedical Engineering  - and solo majors in the fields of Engineering, Earth Systems Science, and Business Economics.
· Three 'Eaters are Public Health Policy majors. UCI alum, Shelby Lee, was a PHP major toward her nursing school aspirations while she was the Big West's representative at National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) conferences where she spoke on panels regarding mental health and helped toward the Time Management Plan that is currently in place to help student-athletes. Women's soccer continues to hold the torch for SAAC as its president for a third straight tenure starting with Shelby Lee to Sam Nieto and now Alyssa Moore.
· Maddy Chavez leads the way in academic exploits earning scholarships over the past year in the social justice leaders category; specifically the Houts Family and Maxine E Nevin Leider scholarships. Chavez is 1 of 4 Anteaters that are currently Criminology, Law, & Society majors. Her talents were recognized as a Scholar All-American on the Third Team from United Soccer Coaches; just the second honoree all-time and first since Natalie Franklin received the honor in 2001-02.
· UCI had 14 players make debuts in 2021 including four international players with Laila El Behery from Egypt, Sophie Gillies from England, Aveka Singh from India, and Suus de Bakker from the Netherlands. The quartet returns with additions of Mirayah Villalpando with Mexican citizenship and Niko Hadzibabic of Ecuadorian and Serbian descent.
· The 'Eaters bring in a high-powered tandem of transfers from Power Five schools with Tati Fung coming from the University of Texas and Aislynn Crowder from UCLA .Fung enters as a sophomore and Crowder as a junior. Both have roots in Hawai'I with Fung coming to California at age 12 from the islands and Crowder growing up in Mililani and going to Mililani High School prior to attending UCLA.

Anteater Numbers
· The team finished with eight road wins matching a program single-season best with the 2010 squad. The eight consecutive road wins also matched the program record set between the 2010 and 2011 teams.
· Head Coach Scott Juniper is back with his staff for his 16th year at UC Irvine and 15th at the helm. Juniper is the program's all-time winningest head coach with 149 wins and four Big West regular season titles, and claim his first Big West Tournament title. His teams have produced a Big West-leading 82 points (25-10-7) in conference play since 2016.
· Coach Juniper's support staff of P.J. Woolridge and Danielle de Seriere return for their eighth season as a unit, second-longest tenured in California (Santa Clara). Altogether, the trio is 65-58-16 with the Anteaters.
· UCI is 1 of the 4 programs nationally to outfit two sets of twins (St. Francis, Temple, Tulsa) as part of the 24 sets of twins on programs across the country and 39 different programs that have a set of sisters on the roster. The 'Eaters equip fraternal twins (Mihaela & Jenae Perez) and identical twins (Ella & Mia Colombini)
 
2021 Review
· The Anteaters pulled off the seismic upset of No. 2-seed UCLA, 1-0, to advance to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. An Alyssa Moore header from Destinee Manzo in the 14th minute was all UCI needed to hand UCLA its first loss of 2021 and first in 26 matches. The Bruins had yet to allow their opponent to score first, yet to trail at halftime, and yet to trail at any point at home in 2021 until the Anteaters did all those. Glo Hinojosa stopped a career high seven shots, and her defense posted its 10th shutout of the year extending a shutout streak to 532:03. Hinojosa's efforts were recognized by Top Drawer Soccer naming her the Player of the Week, and the team was featured on the front page of ncaa.com
· UC Irvine's third trip to the NCAA Tournament began with a bang down No. 2 national seed and No. 3 nationally ranked UCLA for UCI's first win over UCLA since 1995 and first-ever win at their place. UCI remains unbeaten in NCAA First Round matchups with wins in 2010 and 2021 and a draw in 2011. The win over No. 3 UCLA is the highest ranked win in program history topping the win at No. 6 BYU.
· UC Irvine women's soccer secured an elusive Big West Tournament title defeating Cal Poly, 1-0, to win the program's second tournament, first since 1997. The finishing blow came from senior Alex Jaquez, the 14th-different goal scorer for UCI this season, and her third career goal; all registering as game-winners. UCI earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in program history, first since 2011. In addition, the 'Eaters earned a share of the regular season title, the fourth in the program's history.
· UC Irvine's 16 overall victories are the most in the Big West and marks the second time they've won as many as 16 in a year joining the 2010 squad's 19. It marks the eighth 10-win campaign in coach Juniper's 14 seasons at the helm. UCI has also secured its 10th winning season in that span.
· On Sept. 16, the Anteaters earned their first win against Cal in the programs' 13th all-time meeting. On the road, the 'Eaters handed the Golden Bears, who were receiving votes in the national polls at the time, their first loss of the season. In the 1-0 double-overtime victory, it was Julia Gonzalez who netted the game-winner in the 104th minute. It was the 13th result under head coach Scott Juniper, and coupled with the win at UCLA made it 10 wins and four draws against the Pac-12 in his career. UCI hadn't won against a Pac-12 school since downing Oregon in 2017.
· Two Anteaters start 2022 with 50 career matches in Amber Huff and Alex Jaquez. Ten 'Eaters logged over 1,000 minutes in 2021 with nine returning to the squad in 2022. Gianna Creighton led all with 1,962. and was joined by Glo Hinojosa, Maddy Chavez, Chloe Ragon, Lilli Rask, Destinee Manzo, Alex Jaquez, Kiera Smeenge, and Alyssa Moore.

'Eaters Playing Professionally
· Laila El Behery played in u20 Women's World Cup qualifying with the Egyptian under-20 National Team in 2021 falling 4-2 in aggregate of their tie with the Republic of Congo.
· A second Anteater also returned to national team action as alum Jessica Miclat rejoined the Philippines national team in the 2022 Women's Asian Cup and later reached the semifinals from a penalty shootout victory over Chinese Taipei to secure the country's first-ever World Cup berth that will come in the Summer of 2023 in Australia and New Zealand. Miclat is also currently a member of Danish club, Aalborg.
· Kiana Palacios and Janelly Farias have joined forces for Club America in Mexico's top league. This is Farias' second season with the club after playing previously with her hometown Chivas Guadalajara. Palacios joined this season after three with Spain's Real Sociedad. Both also play with the Mexican Senior National Team.
· Scarlett Camberos joined Palacios and Farias at Club America for her professional debut. Camberos knocked home 11 goals in 17 matches in her first season and was included in training with the Mexican Senior National Team. Other stats from the 2021-22 season included five goals from Farias in 39 matches and three Palacios goals in 22 matches.