COUNTER ATTACKS
270 - Saturday marked the first
Anteater hat trick in 270 matches (Spencer Thompson vs. AFA - 9/12/2010)
9/2 - Anteater keeper Paul Jing joined the program on 9/2 from the intramural team and earned a win and shutout vs. SDSU

THROW-INS
27 & 14 - UCI's attack put up 27 shots and 14 shots on goal vs. UTU, the most in the Big West this year and most for UCI since 2018
3rd - Agaton Pourshahidi scored his 3rd career Big West weekly award on September 23 - first Offensive Player of the Week to go with two Freshman of the Weeks

SET PIECES
#1 - Mario Anaya remains from coach Raz's #1-ranked recruiting class of 2019 with 7 of those class members gone on to play pro
1st - UC Irvine was picked 1st in the Preseason Big West Coaches' Poll with All-Big West honorees Winum, Montanile, and Pruter

 
· Paul Jing became an Anteater legend Saturday as the keeper in a 2-0 win over San Diego State. Jing was a student and player on the intramural squad until the program signed him September 2nd. After injuries now to Luke Pruter and Alex Shields, he got the start Saturday and got the team the win and a shutout. He added two big-time saves as the Beijing-born keeper from Temple City High School .
· Francesco Montanile had two assists on Saturday, his second straight match with two assists. His five assists rank second in the Big West as he now has 15 over his career
· Roman Warren put home the game-winner, the first of his career, vs. San Diego State. Warren's other career goal came in his freshman season, and he now has points in consecutive matches
· Agaton Pourshahidi recorded a hat trick vs. Utah Tech giving him five goals on the season and nine career goals to lead all active Anteaters. From it he earned Big West Offensive Player of the Week, his first, and recorded the first Anteater hat trick since Spencer Thompson did so back in 2010
· The Anteater faithful showed out during Welcome Week with the largest crowd of the season at 1,211, the 23rd men's soccer crowd of over 1,000 and fourth in the last three seasons. The 1,211 stands as the third-largest crowd for a regular season non-conference men's soccer matchup and largest regular season non-conference crowd since 2009. It's also the fourth Big West home crowd of over 1,000 fans this year joining CSUB (1,867 on 9/11), UCSB (4,960 on 9/22), and the UCSB at CP matchup Saturday of 9,657
· The Anteaters finish non-conference play on a two-match winning streak and an overall record of 3-4-1 with three losses coming to ranked teams. UCI's schedule is currently the 69th-toughest in the nation and third-toughest among Big West schools, and its RPI of 101 rates fourth in the Big West (UCSB - 18, CSF - 28, UCD - 80).

Wednesday vs. the Titans
· UC Irvine and Cal State Fullerton match up once again in their storied rivalry. UCI has played CSF more than any other opponent, 66 times, and has beaten them more than any other foe, 29 wins, to go with 24 Fullerton wins and nine draws. Coach Raz has contributed with a 5-2 record against them. Wednesday will be in Anteater Stadium, a place where UCI is 17-10-5 in the series and has won the last three times
· Last season's matchup Cal State Fullerton was flying on an eight-game win streak and 11 straight unbeaten ranked No. 13 before UCI went into Titan Stadium and served up a 2-1 defeat. Brady Treinen's sixth-minute golazo set the tone, and an own goal made it 2-0 'Eaters in the first 11 minutes
· The Titans are on another streak entering this matchup at 4-0-3 in their last seven including wins at No. 6 UCLA and No. 15 USD. They won five major awards last year including former 'Eater head coach George Kuntz who is back on the sideline with Anteater alums Keykeh Cardenas and Irving Garcia at his side, and award winners Roberto Ordonez (6 G, 7 A) and Erick Serrano (4 G, 4 A) are back at the top of the Titan attack again in 2024

Saturday at the Aggies
· UC Irvine and UC Davis rematch last year's Big West final that the 'Eaters took in a penalty shootout. All-time, UCD holds the edge 14-11-7, and have won four of the last five in Davis.
· Last season UCI came out on top when it mattered. The conference matchup was a 1-0 UC Davis win in Anteater Stadium on a 61st-minute Aggie goal in a match owned by the defenses.
· The Aggies are 0-1-2 recently that included a 1-0 loss at No. 1 Stanford. They're 4-2-3 overall including a 2-1 win at Oregon State. They lead with the defense always, but the offense has come alive in 2024 behind upperclassmen Cason Goodman (5 G, 1 A) and Keegan Walwyn-Bent (4 G, 1 A).