SET PIECES
1st - UCI became the 2nd team to beat a 1-seed in the first round in 2023, but is now the 1st to also reach the Sweet Sixteen
7 - UCI joins UNC, Florida State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, BYU, and Memphis as the 7 programs to reach the last 2 Sweet 16s

THROW-INS
10th - The coaching staff of Scott Juniper, P.J. Woolridge, and Danielle de Seriere enter their 10th season together with 87 wins
101 - In program history, 101 Anteaters have played in 50+ career matches with three 'Eaters on track to reach it in 2024
9 - The second poll of the 2024 season featured UC Irvine receiving 9 votes in the coaches poll

COUNTER ATTACKS
10 - Last week there were 10 UCI debuts and 7 collegiate debuts, and they accounted for all goals, assists, and goalie minutes
:47 - Clara Samson scored 47 seconds into the season and her career, 1 of 3 freshman in the NCAA to score in the first 47 seconds
 

· Clara Samson started her account early with a goal 47 seconds into her career that ended up being the game-winner Thursday at Saint Mary's. She joined three other freshmen in college soccer to score in the opening minute of their team's opening match in 2024 - Shea Collins (34 seconds) for South Carolina and Julia Acosta (40 seconds) for Fordham.
· Kaitlyn Paculba followed Samson's lead punctuating her Anteater debut with two goals at Saint Mary's. Paculba scored 10 minutes after entering, in the 30th, and again in the 49th minute. She had four goals in her 47-match career at Oregon and never recorded a brace.
· Ashley Naylor made both starts in net saving seven shots including six Sunday at Stanford. She picked up her first win Thursday at Saint Mary's, and combined on a shutout with Laurynn Ziller who made her debut and played over 20 minutes seeing action in both matches.
· Including Ziller, 10 players made their Anteater debuts last week of the 25 'Eaters that saw playing time including transfers Naylor, Paculba, and Lawson Willis who contributed an assist, and seven made their collegiate debuts - Kori Pickelle, Milan Heisdorf, Chifumi Sasaki, Hailey Clingan, Ivy Williams, and Clara Samson - with starts for Williams and Samson.
· Another first came to Mia Colombini who assisted on Paculba's first goal Thursday for her first career point as all three goals and two assists last week came from Anteater debuts.
· A new rule in the fold - substitution rules in the final five minutes of regulation adjusted where the clock would stop when the winning team made any subs. In 2024, that window will now be the final 15 minutes of regulation, and the clock will stop if the winning team subs or in a tie

Thursday vs. the Toreros
· UC Irvine and San Diego meet for the 25th time with the Toreros holding the all-time series lead, 13-9-1. They won the last meeting as well in 2022 drawing a results in seven of 12 all-time trips to UCI
· Last meeting in 2022, USD won 1-0 on a goal by Josefine Schlichting in the 78th minute who is 1 of 4 Toreros back for this matchup that saw minutes. One Torero, Adalee Broadbent, started that match, and this time around will be on UC Irvine's side as an academic advisor. UCI returns six players that earned minutes, and they held the advantage in shots, 11-6, and 3-2 on target in the defeat
· The Toreros have some work to do winning twice in 2022 and once last year, and are now under new coach, Greg Laporte. They were outscored 5-0 in the opening weekend against Fullerton and LBSU.

Sunday at the Huskies
· The 'Eaters and Huskies matchup for the ninth time and first since an overtime loss in 2018. The 'Eaters are searching for their first result against the new Big Ten squad, all-time 0-8-0, 0-3 at UW.
· That 2018 matchup went extra time after a UC Irvine equalizer in the 86th minute, but the Huskies pulled out the win in the 105th minute. Washington played just one match over the opening weekend, a scoreless draw with Wyoming, and stays home to play Seattle U Thursday before the Anteaters.
· The Huskies are coming off a 9-5-5 season and 4-4-3 record in their final Pac-12 year. Their Big Ten era begins with UW projected to finish 13th in the 18-team conference with a program that returns nearly its entire roster including the entire starting XI, over 80% of its shots and goals, and the trio of Kelsey Branson, Tatum Thompson, and Kolo Suliafu who were named to the Big Ten Players to Watch List.