THROW-INS
45 - UCI's game-winning goal Wednesday was a strike from 45 yards by Mario Anaya in the 16th minute, his first career GWG
54 - Saturday marked Luke Pruter's 11th career shutout; he and the defense have allowed a Big West-low 54 shots on goal
#8 - Oscar Cervantes' game-winner vs. UC Riverside was the #8 play on Sports Center's Top 10 plays that night
15th - UCI beat a ranked Cal State Fullerton, the first ranked win since 2019, and the 15th win ever against a top-13 program
3-0-1 - UCI began the year 3-0-1 unbeaten in their first four, the program's best start under head coach Yossi Raz
#1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with four on the 2023 roster and two now playing pro
 
· Anteater seniors will be recognized Saturday prior to the 7:00 p.m. match. Nine seniors will celebrated - Jake Means, Samuel Atiye, Christian Gomez, Kellan Barry, Rafael Espinoza, Luke Pruter, Mario Anaya, Francesco Montanile, and Juan Barragan-Manzo - in addition to returning seniors Eddy Berumen, Ricardo Ibarra, and Oscar Cervantes who were honored last season and will be acknowledged with the group of nine Saturday
· UC Irvine clinched a Big West Championship berth with Saturday's win. UCI is 4-3-1 on 13 points in a tie for third and can still finish as high as second and as low as sixth.
· Luke Pruter is approaching the Anteater top 10 in saves now with 130 for his career. He's one behind Damon Ellis and 11 behind Scott Zinser's 141 in 10th
· Notable Anteater stat leaders begin with Ricardo Ibarra who tops the roster with 75 career matches played, 60 starts, and nine career assists lead all active Anteaters. He's also approaching a minutes milestone with three until hitting 5,000 for his career
· Agaton Pourshahidi netted two goals Saturday to take the team scoring lead. He now has six in his career and two braces. Jake Means still leads active 'Eaters with seven in his career along with seven points this season to lead the team while Oscar Cervantes leads with three GWGs.
· The Anteaters have drawn three crowds of over 1,000 fans this season including the second-largest in program history vs. UC Riverside at 1,927

Saturday vs. the Tritons - 7:00 PM
· UC San Diego completes the regular season Saturday night in Anteater Stadium with a new kickoff time of 7:00 p.m. The Tritons are ineligible to play in the postseason tournament finishing out the last year of its reclassification from Division II. They would find themselves in the mix for a spot with 10 Big West points including wins over UCSB, CSUN, and UC Riverside. UCI has won both matches since UCSD joined the conferences, but all-time the series is even, 7-7-2
· The Tritons have given up 30 goals, the most in the Big West, while scoring 23. Iñaki Iribarren has been a huge part with 10 goals and 41 shots. Four-goal scorers Alessandro Allen and Max Carvalho factor in as well with Mitchell Wilson and his 3.38 saves per match in net

Big West Championship
· UC Irvine is back in the Big West Championship for a fifth straight season and the 12th appearance in 15 tournaments. The 'Eaters last made the final in 2021 and are searching for their first title since 2013.
· UCI's seed, location, and opponent are all still wide open with all matches Saturday being played concurrently to decide all that. UCI can host their first match with a win or draw Saturday, and can be the No. 2 seed with a win and some help. A loss will subject them to a road match to open as the 5-seed or 6-seed. Tiebreakers are key with head-to-head the first one followed by goal differential in conference games then conference goals and least Big West goals allowed.