IRVINE, Calif.-- UC Irvine women's soccer's final newcomer to the 2023 squad with the multi-faceted student-athlete from Northern California and Kori Pickelle.

The skillful forward and midfielder comes from the San Jose area as an alum of Santa Teresa High School. There, she helped the squad excel picking up Junior of the Year honors in the league last March, and just this past season MVP as a senior. The San Jose Mercury News highlighted Pickelle as a Girls Athlete of the Week on one occasion after a hat trick from a victory.

"I could not be more excited for this upcoming year and getting to know my teammates. UCI has always been one of my top choices athletically and academically, I cannot wait!"

Pickelle and her club accolades added to it earned Player of the March in the Norcal State Cup Championship Match last May as a member of Bay Area Surf club. She also joined up with Futsal SJ in San Jose as they competed at the U.S. Futsal Nationals winning the U17 championship last summer.

Head Coach Scott Juniper and the entire staff thinks highly of Pickelle. "We didn't know much about Kori until we spent time with her at one of our ID camps. Our camps stretch players in a number of different scenarios and most players are strong in some but not all. In our camp debrief meeting, every coach had positive feedback in all areas, which speaks to Kori's versatility and consistency.  She has a high level of work rate and capacity to sustain competitive work.  The sessions we run challenge players' coachability and capacity for managing increasingly complex environments. Kori will fit into our squad really well in the Fall."

Pickelle completes the six Anteater newcomers to the 2023 class, and joins an Anteater squad fresh off 27 wins over the last two seasons with three coming in the NCAA Tournament and a pair of Big West Championships.