Five Things to Watch for 2023 Men's Soccer
· Head coach
Yossi Raz's team continues its consistent ride with four straight top-three finishes in the Big West and an appearance in the Big West semifinal or final in three of the last four tournaments.
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· The Anteaters return a strong core of players with a large contingent of fifth-year veterans at the helm like
Eddy Berumen,
Mario Anaya,
Ricardo Ibarra,
Oscar Cervantes, and
Rafael Espinoza who boast four All-Big West honors, six goals, and 25 assists between them
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· The 2022 freshman class delivered with the likes of
Agaton Pourshahidi and
Diego Otoya each making All-Big West and accounting for seven goals.
Nolan DiCenzo played a critical role on the backline down the season's stretch run and scoring a game-winner. With Otoya off to a professional career, Pourshahidi and DiCenzo remain with three Big West Freshman of the Week honors between them from a year ago
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· UC Irvine's goalkeeping corps enter the year as some of the best in the Big West.
Luke Pruter has been tested with 92 career saves including 13 in a match and four career shutouts.
Cody Aung stepped up huge with a win in his first career appearance last season. Together with a solid veteran backline of DiCenzo, Ibarra, Berumen,
Josh Kenworthy, and
Mathias Winum, the Anteater defense is poised for a resurgent campaign
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· Once again, coach Raz has put together a challenging schedule for 2023. The Anteaters will see a lot of action in Anteater Stadium including the season opener at home for the first time since 2014. The season's second match features a Creighton squad that reached the College Cup in 2022 that return a pair of All-Big East honorees. The rest of the schedule includes multiple recent participants in the NCAA Tournament and big names Stanford and UCLA both headed to Anteater Stadium
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