Anteaters Score 2-0 Victory over Cal Poly

Wednesday, October 18

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

6-6-3, 3-3-1

Cal Poly

4-7-3, 2-3-2

Team	1	2	Final F
Cal Poly	0	0	0
UC Irvine	1	1	2

samuel-atiye-mario-anaya-uci-msoc-2023-gonzaga-cal-poly

Photo by: Robert Huskey

Anteaters Score 2-0 Victory over Cal Poly

October 18, 2023 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer bounced back with a complete victory Wednesday night in Anteater Stadium taking down Cal Poly, 2-0.

UC IRVINE 2, CAL POLY 0

On a hazy and misty night, the visiting Mustangs were on the front foot with a corner kick and a pair of shots on target within the first seven minutes with Luke Pruter on his game and saving each of them
The Anteaters had their own flourish starting in the 14th minute. A pair of corners led to some blocked shots, but the third go-around came through
Along the far sideline, the 'Eaters dished it around before Mario Anaya fired a laser that floated through traffic and settled inside the far post before Cal Poly's keeper could react putting the Anteaters on top, 1-0, in the 16th minute on a shot from 45 yards out
UCI rode that momentum with more shots down the rest of the half. Cal Poly's Parker Owens had a golden opportunity that was fired high in the 41st minute that would have equalized as the match went 1-0 into the half
The Anteaters continued the attack to start the second half as well with Jake Means closing in on a second hitting the crossbar in the 52nd minute
The pressure paid off a good team football built up a chance in the 58th minute as Samuel Atiye closed in on the box, got some help from Jake Means and Christian Gomez, and found himself open again enough to punch a goal through and make it a 2-0 lead
Both sides continued to close in on goals with Agaton Pourshahidi firing one off from 10 yards out that was saved off the bar in the 86th minute.
Cal Poly came back down in the 87th minute and had a beautiful opportunity from inside the box that was blocked away by the Anteater backline to keep the lead and shutout
Anaya's strike was the second of his career and first game-winner as he topped 3,000 career minutes in the match
Also picking up his second career goal was Samuel Atiye now up to five career points
Three different Anteaters registered assists in the match led by Jake Means with two, his first two-assist match in his career doubling his career total
Oscar Cervantes earned another, the seventh of his career, and giving him at least one assist in each season of his career
Final assist went to Christian Gomez, his first assist and point as an Anteater after he had three and seven in four years at UC Berkeley
Lastly, each keeper had three saves in the match, but Luke Pruter recorded the win and clean sheet, the 10th shutout of his career
On the stat sheet, the 'Eaters held every advantage with 14 shots to seven, six corners to two, five shots on target to three, and were called for seven fouls compared to 15 for the Mustangs

Two early saves for Luke including this one in the mitts #TWZ pic.twitter.com/VK8tW4GA9j
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

MARIO FROM THE CLOUDS!! ???

'Eaters lead 1-0 in the 16th minute #RipEm pic.twitter.com/5t291maBWs
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

JR with a bullet on frame #RipEm pic.twitter.com/NMmEd0WUWo
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

Sam and Jake on the attack with a deflected shot plinking the bar #RipEm pic.twitter.com/2NbJ3gG4Mb
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

SAMMY!! ????????? Punches it in from Jake and Christian

UC Irvine up 2-0 in the 58th minute #RipEm pic.twitter.com/cTQ2XNdjtE
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

Mathias stopping the break! #HardWorkPaysOff pic.twitter.com/X9FtQGBmVD
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

Agaton's shot nearly sneaks in #TWZ pic.twitter.com/1ZTMlZvdzu
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 19, 2023

The win boosts UC Irvine to 10 points and a 3-3-1 Big West record now tied with three other schools for third place in the standings. Overall, UCI is back even at 6-6-3. The Anteaters also leaped over Cal Poly in the standings still with eight points, a 2-3-2 conference mark, and 4-7-2 overall.

The week continues for UC Irvine as they head on the road to play at Sacramento State Saturday, October 21, with a 3:00 p.m. kickoff.