6th - UC Irvine won a share of its 6th Big West regular-season title, 2nd now under head coach Yossi Raz
93 - UCI keepers led the Big West with 93 saves between Botterill and Pruter, including three outings with 9+ stops
0 - Head Coach Yossi Raz has led the Anteaters for four seasons and had 0 losing seasons finishing 2021 at 8-8-4
#1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with six on the 2021 roster and two now playing pro
19 - The 2021 Anteaters had 19 different players earn a point, 15 different goal scorers, and 11 first-time goal scorers
50% - The 'Eaters return 50% of their points from a year ago returning 44 points (14 G, 16 A) of the team's 88 (29 G, 30 A) in 2021
  
· The Big West Conference announced their preseason coaches poll with the Anteaters and UC Santa Barbara, the teams that shared the 2021 regular season title also share the No. 1 projected spot in the poll. UCI earns three of the 10 first-place votes with the others collected by UCSB with six and one for Cal Poly.
· The 11-player Preseason All-Big West squad also featured three Anteaters. Grad transfer and 2021 Big West Midfielder of the Year Robert Mejia graces the team along with fellow senior Ashish Chattha and 2021 Big West Freshman of the Year, Francesco Montanile.
· UC Irvine and San Diego State played to a 2-2 draw in the first UCI exhibition of 2022. Scoring came quickly with three first-half goals in the a two-minute span in the first 18 minutes. Robert Mejia put UCI in front on an assist from Ricardo Ibarra, but were quickly equalized less than a minute later. Mathias Winum got the lead back just over a minute after the equalizer for a 2-1 halftime lead heading home a Mejia cross. The Aztecs added goal in the 75th minute to complete the draw.
· The Anteaters played their second exhibition Saturday vs. Cal State San Bernardino ending in a 1-1 draw. The match was scoreless until a Coyotes goal in the 88th minute before Rafael Espinoza equalized in the 89th minute from Kellan Barry.
· UC Irvine men's soccer begins its 38th season. All-time, UCI is 21-11-5 in its season opener and will start the season on the road for the sixth straight year winless (0-4-1) in the previous five. UCI will travel to No. 23 UCLA and No. 19 Missouri State marking the third straight season opening against a ranked opponent following a loss in 2021 to No. 5 Georgetown and loss at No. 11 Saint Mary's in 2019.
· The opener against UCLA is Thursday at Wallis Annenberg Stadium. The 'Eaters helped open the stadium in 2019 with a 1-1 draw. UCI has three wins all-time with the 22nd meeting all-time coming up. The one road win came in 2001 with the last two road meeting going to overtime. The Bruins reached the NCAA Second Round in 2021 going 11-7-1 overall. UCLA was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 preseason poll, and are coming off exhibition matches vs. Westmont and UNLV.
· Missouri State and the Anteaters reprise their matchup meeting for the third time in their histories. Both previous matchups were draws on neutral sites - 0-0 in 2005 and 2-2 in 2012. MSU takes on UCSB and UCI to open the year as part of eight consecutive home matches. The Bears begin the season No. 19 nationally, the third straight year they start in the polls. The Bears return the conference's midfielder of the year after a 17-2 record before bowing out in the NCAA First Round.
 
Five Things to Watch
· UC Irvine's 2022 slate will challenge the Anteaters starting with the first of a pair of Pac-12 foes, UCLA, on the road in the opener. 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
· 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.
· 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.
· Defensive forces Kwabena Boateng, Ricardo Ibarra, and Josh Kenworthy are back on the backline with Boateng and Ibarra leading the 2021 'Eaters 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
· 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

Thoughts from Head Coach Yossi Raz
· "We are very excited about the upcoming season as we were able to assemble one of the most competitive schedules in the country. In addition to the many challenges that the Big West Conference brings, our preseason games feature many elite programs with rich traditions of success. I believe many of them will continue on and compete in the post season which is also our goal at UC Irvine."
· "Measuring ourselves against such competition will allow us to build a strong foundation not only for 2022 but for years to come. This group is excited and understand that with such a schedule, the preparation phase is essential. We started the process in February and will continue to build our craft in order to represent UCI well on a national level. I encourage our community to join us in the Fall and take part in our journey. It's going to be a fun one."
· 2021 UC Irvine men's soccer finished the year with an 8-8-4 record overall and a 6-1-2 record within the Big West for a share of the regular season title - the second under head coach Yossi Raz and sixth in program history. Coach Raz has finished each of his four seasons at UC Irvine at .500 or better, and earned his second Big West Coach of the Year honor in 2021.

Student-Athlete Notes
· Among the new Anteaters is some international flavor with Norwegian sophomore duo Victor Sandsmark-Evensen and Mathias Winum. Luke Pruter grew up in Ireland, and is joined by other Anteaters with international ties in Ashish Chattha (India) and newcomer Diego Otoya (Peru). Other newcomers come directly from international waters including Connor Manning (England) and Samuel Atiye (Germany, Togo) playing their second years in the states and freshman Agaton Pourshahidi (Sweden).
· The program excelled in the classroom earning its second straight Team Excellence Award from the United Soccer Coaches. UCI was 1 of 175 schools across all divisions to earn the honor for both men's and women's programs and 1 of 2 Big West schools joining UC Riverside.
· Academic standing was evident throughout 2021-22 with Anteaters honored on the Dean's List 19 times, nine Big West Fall All-Academic nods, 20 UC Irvine Scholar-Athletes, and 15 named to the Big West Commissioner's Honor Roll led by Mario Anaya and Ricardo Ibarra to earn each distinction including Dean's List in all three quarters.
· Of the 21 'Eaters that have declared, nine different majors are represented with the most common being Business Economics at seven members along with seven undeclared Anteaters.
· Robert Mejia joins the program as a graduate transfer where he earned his degree at UC Davis in biology and is turning focus to a master's in innovation management and entrepreneurship with the 'Eaters.
· Among the other fields UCI men's soccer players are studying toward are four under sociology, three in business administration, two in criminology, law, & society, and solos in social ecology, education, psychology, and international studies.

Anteater Numbers
· Anteater matches played leaders start with Ricardo Ibarra with 39 under his belt. He also shares the career points lead at 10 with Ashish Chattha. Chattha leads all with 50 collegiate matches playing 19 of those at UCI. Newcomer Robert Mejia is at 49 career matches, all with UC Davis. Other leaders in matches played are Kwabena Boateng and active assists leader with five Oscar Cervantes each with 30 and Eddy Berumen with 25 matches played looking to return fully from an injury-plagued 2021.
· Entering the 2019 season, coach Raz's recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer. From that class, two players are currently on pro sides - Roberto Molina at Las Vegas Lights FC and Jorge Hernandez with Belgian club KV Mechelen - and six are still 'Eaters in Eddy Berumen, Kwabena Boateng, Mario Anaya, Rafael Espinoza, Ricardo Ibarra, and Oscar Cervantes.
· Head Coach Yossi Raz is in his fifth year with the program and fourth of competition (2020 season was canceled). Raz is 34-29-16 in his four seasons at the helm without any losing campaigns. His teams have won two Big West regular-season titles (2018, 2021) and made a trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2018.

'Eaters Playing Professionally
· Former Anteaters have made big strides in the professional ranks recently, including Daniel Crisostomo, who made his MLS debut with LAFC last season. Alvaro Quezada was also drafted in the third round by LAFC, and has played alongside Crisostomo on one occasion. Roberto Molina made his debut with the El Salvador national team in a friendly, and started in another friendly vs. Guatemala, while also continuing to compete with and captain the USL Las Vegas Lights FC.
· UC Irvine men's soccer alums currently account for 13 'Eaters playing professionally across four countries. The United States holds the largest contingent of Anteaters still playing. Alvaro Quezada was drafted in early 2021 by LAFC and signed with them. He is currently being loaned to Las Vegas Lights FC alongside fellow 'Eaters Daniel Crisostomo and Roberto Molina for the USL Championship side. Quezada and Crisostomo became the seventh and eighth Anteaters to play in the MLS last season, both for LAFC.
· Molina earned a call-up to the El Salvadorian National Team playing in a friendly against Costa Rica ahead of the World Cup Qualifiers. Other 'Eaters on national teams have been Lester Hayes III playing for the Puerto Rico national team in World Cup Qualifier wins over Bahamas and Puerto Rico. Miguel Ibarra also spent time with the U.S. national team entering in three friendlies. Brad Evans also played in 21 caps adding a goal in a WCQ vs. Jamaica.
· The USL Championship level is home to eight Anteaters starting with the three in Las Vegas. Tarek Morad continues to thrive at Oakland Roots, Ford Parker is now with his hometown club of New Mexico United, and long-time MLS pro Miguel Ibarra at has joined up with Charlotte Independence. Below the USL Championship is USL League One containing a pair of 'Eaters with Victor Falck in his third pro season with and first with Central Valley Fuego FC and 2020 grad Luca Mastrantonio with FC Tucson for a second season.
· Two Anteaters are thriving globally starting with the most successful in Lester Hayes III. He's found himself in Denmark with new club Dalum FC before heading to his current Danish club, Middlefart. He took part in Gold Cup qualifiers with Puerto Rico scoring once in his two matches. Prior to that, he spent three years in Spain with two different ninth-tier clubs as one of their top goalscorers. Jorge Hernandez has made a tumultuous trip through Europe after a couple matches as an Anteater in 2019 before signing pro for L.A. Galaxy II. Earlier this year, he signed on with Ukrainian side Chornomorets Odesa right as war had broken out in the country of Ukraine. This summer, he joined on with KV Mechelen of the top tier in Belgium.