FULLERTON, Calif. --- The Orange County rivals squared off Thursday night in Titan Stadium, and the hosts came away with an important Big West victory defeating UC Irvine women's soccer, 2-0.
CAL STATE FULLERTON 2, UC IRVINE 0
- Starting the match for the first time in UCI history were twin sisters on either side of the ball. Third-year Anteater Mihaela Perez took on her twin sister, Jenae, the former Anteater now Cal State Fullerton Titan, in her first year with the program
- The first half was heavy on the attack for the Anteaters out-shooting the Titans, 11-3, with three shots on target, and they eventually took the 4-3 edge in corners after CSF had a majority in the early going
- The Titans made their shots count with two on frame including one in the final seconds of the half that 'Eater keeper Glo Hinojosa deflected wide
- The second half was end-to-end with each side registering at least 10 shots and 11 combined put on frame.
- UCI had the early chances with a pair of shots on target.
- Cal State Fullerton returned fire with the match's first goal in the 56th minute. A foul put the Titans at the spot, and Hinojosa guessed correctly, but still was unable to save the day as the Titans went up, 1-0.
- CSF looked for another including a wild sequence off a corner kick in the 67th minute that saw a shot hit off the crossbar and a rebound need a spectacular stop by Hinojosa to keep things within reach
- The tensions ratcheted up in the final six minutes with Hinojosa making consecutive saves in the 85th, 86th, and 87th minutes. The Anteaters had golden opportunities to level with shots by Alyssa Moore and Laila El Behery turned away or into the side netting
- The Titans didn't miss their chance to put the match away earning a breakaway chance in the 89th minute that was initially saved by Hinojosa, but McKenna McGill beat her to the rebound for the goal and 2-0 advantage.
- UCI put up 21 shots in all, a season high eclipsing the 16 in the win over Sacramento State. Alyssa Moore had seven to set a new career high topping the six she had in 2021
- Hinojosa made seven saves in all, one off a career high, and collected the 200th save of her career in the effort
- Hinojosa also came out of the match with an injury in the final minutes needing to be replaced by redshirt freshman Savanna Arruda who was on for her collegiate debut
- Good injury news for Kiera Smeenge who came on in the first half and played 30 minutes as a sub after missing almost a month of playÂ
- In the match, two Anteaters reached the 50-match plateau over their careers with Alyssa Moore starting the match to get it and Sophie Gillies entering in the 73rd minute
The loss puts UC Irvine at 4-5-3 on the year and keeps them at five Big West points in four matches as they sit tied with six other programs for sixth place in the standings. Up next is a Sunday 2:00 p.m. match against Cal Poly, a team UCI is looking up in the standings at with seven points. Following the match, the Anteaters will celebrate their senior class for
Marissa LeVine,
Kiera Smeenge,
Sophie Gillies,
Madison Goerlinger,
Lilli Rask, and
Desiree Mendoza
