IRVINE, Calif.. --- UC Irvine men's soccer completed a 9-7-4 season with a Big West Championship, NCAA Tournament berth, and multiple team and individual honors for the program in 2023.

#1 - Coach Raz's 2019 recruiting class was ranked #1 in the nation with five on the 2023 roster and three now playing pro
5th - UC Irvine won its 5th Big West Championship title and first since 2013 winning in the PK shootout ninth round
7th - UC Irvine reached the NCAA Tournament for the 7th time, second under coach Raz and all program trips made since 2008
1-1-1 - UCI was 1-1-1 against ranked opponents beating #13 CSF, drawing with #8 Creighton, and falling, 2-1, to #1 Stanford
40% - UCI pitched a shutout in 40% of their matches with Luke Pruter top 11 nationally in minutes and shutouts
9 - In UC Irvine's 9 wins, they had 9 different game-winning goal scorers including an own goal at Cal State Fullerton


 
· The Anteaters earned their share of awards in 2023 including seven All-Big West members. Ricardo Ibarra and Mathias Winum on the backline earned First Team while a trio was named Second Team - Mario Anaya, Oscar Cervantes, and Luke Pruter. Two freshmen, Brady Treinen and Mauricio Gutierrez - were selected to the All-Freshman Team. Nolan DiCenzo represented the team and defense on the Top Drower Soccer National Team of the Week following UCI's performance in the Big West Final to earn a shutout and penalty shootout win to advance. Three Anteaters made All-Far West Region, the first accolades for the program since 2019, headed by keeper Luke Pruter on the Second Team and a pair of Third Teamers, Mathias Winum and Oscar Cervantes.
· Big West Championship MVP was Oscar Cervantes who played every minute of the past five matches. The fifth-year's goal vs. UC Riverside was #8 on SportsCenter's Top 10
· Luke Pruter reached the program's top 10 in saves stopping three shots in the postseason finale giving him 143 on his career surpassing Scott Zinser. Pruter's eight shutouts led the Big West and is sixth in the nation among his ranks.
· UC Irvine's defense was its strength with Pruter and All-Big West First-Teamers in front of him, Ricardo Ibarra and Mathias Winum. Ibarra played 79 career matches and over 5,000 career minutes. The stingy 'Eaters have allowed just 21 goals and 72 shots on target total
· The Anteater attack came on late with 21 goals on the year and 11 coming in the final six matches. Scoring title was shared by Jake Means and Agaton Pourshahidi with seven points each. Pourshahidi's three goals were enough to lead the team while he and seven other Anteaters all had one game-winner. Francesco Montanile topped everyone with four assists. 17 different 'Eaters registered a point and nine played in all 20 matches on the season
· UC Irvine won the Big West Championship, their fifth as a program, first since 2013, and first under head coach Yossi Raz who took the team to the NCAA Tournament for a second time (2018). A scoreless draw with to a penalty shootout vs. UC Davis, and after a miss in the shootout's second round, Luke Pruter saved UCD's fourth and ninth shots while UC Irvine made each of their final seven to win, 8-7.
· UC Irvine had two notable streaks in 2023 starting with a four-match unbeaten streak (3-0-1) to start the year that included a draw with No. 8 Creighton and win at Summit champ, Omaha. The streak was the best to open a season in coach Raz's tenure. Down the stretch, UCI went on a five-match unbeaten streak (4-0-1) outscoring opponents 9-2.
· UCI's season ended in the NCAA First Round for the very first time previous unbeaten in three first round contests. UCI is now 4-7-1 all-time in NCAA Championship matches.
· Nationally, UC Irvine stood out in many areas starting with defense in which they earned a shutout in 40% of their matches, 30th in the NCAA, with Luke Pruter finishing ninth in minutes played and 11th individually in shutouts, leading the conference with eight. He finished in the top 25% in the country with his 1.038 goals-against-average. UCI's leading shot taker, Jake Means, finished second in the conference in shot accuracy a 53.5% and top 100 nationally in shots on goal per match at 1.15.