IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer grabbed an early lead and made it stand up for a while before Saint Mary's pulled the rug out from under with three second half goals to win, 3-1, Monday night in Anteater Stadium.
FEVER PITCH
The match's first action put a goal up on the board for the Anteaters (0-5-1). In the second minute, the Anteaters worked the ball around the defensive third before
Mario Anaya pelted a long lead pass to
Francesco Montanile crashing from the left wing. Saint Mary's keeper Kash Oladapo made a run to cut it off, but Montanile beat him by a split second and chipped a shot up, over, and in to get the 'Eaters starting fast with a 1-0 lead 98 seconds in.
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Montanile was back on the attack again with another shot on frame minutes after, but Oladapo was quick to deny that shot. Saint Mary's (4-2-0) began to look to level with their share of shots finishing the half with the 6-3 advantage, but the Anteater defense was up to the task keeping the 1-0 lead and entering the half with the lead for the first time in 2022.
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
The Gaels meant business coming out of the half with a flurry of shots and corners within the first five minutes, but could not conjure anything up. In the 58th minute, both sides had a go on frame starting with the Gaels. A corner traced across the box to Bourdanne Ngongfor whose half volley was destined for goal before
Ashish Chattha sent it back off the line to momentarily preserve the 1-0 lead.
Robert Mejia had a pair of chances on the other end, but both stayed out keeping it a one-goal match.
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The Gael breakthrough came in the 65th minute, much like UCI's first goal starting out of the defensive third. Valentin Kurz linked up with Omar Yehya down the right wing, and Yehya slotted a cross into the box that was redirected right onto Tyler Hardin whose half-volley found the back of the net to knot things up at 1-1.
From then on, the Gaels seemed to get all the breaks and soon the lead. In the 73rd minute, Gaige Gibbs sent a ball along near the touchline that Jack Vestburg would corral away from the Anteater defense and track along the touchline beating keeper
Luke Pruter 1v1 on his short side to suddenly make it 2-1, Saint Mary's.
The crushing blow came four minutes later as one of Saint Mary's eight corner kicks was cleared back to its taker, Louis Sterobo. He took a chance from the corner of the 18 and got a little help off an Anteater body just giving it enough to slip past Pruter and open the Gael lead to 3-1 in the 77th minute.
FINAL SCORE: SAINT MARY'S 3, UC IRVINE 1
The Anteaters couldn't drudge up a ton of answers with just three shots in the second half finishing behind in total shots, 13-6, as UC Irvine falls to 0-5-1 through non-conference play.
UCI's bright spot on the Montanile goal was his first of the year and third in his career, and gives him points in consecutive matches. Assists on the play were courtesy of Anaya and
Ricardo Ibarra for the first point for each in 2022. The active assist leader Ibarra added to his total now with seven in his career, while Anaya claimed his first collegiate point on his assist coming in his 25th career match.
Pruter in net totaled one save with a second save credited to Chattha and the team.
The 'Eaters now depart on a road trip to the East Coast played Friday at the University of New Hampshire and Sunday at the University of Vermont before their next home match.
