WEEKLY MATCHUPS

UC Irvine Anteaters (5-3-5, 0-0-4 Big West) vs. CSUN Matadors (6-3-4, 1-2-1 Big West)
Anteater Stadium (2,500) - Irvine, Calif.
Wednesday - 6:00 PM | Live Stats

UC Irvine Anteaters (5-3-5, 0-0-4 Big West) at Sacramento State Hornets (1-9-2, 0-3-1 Big West)
Hornet Field (1,050) - Sacramento, Calif.
Saturday - 3:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats 

Match Notes
Promotional Schedule

COUNTER ATTACKS
2.84 - UCI's defense has faced 10 less shots on goal than any other Big West school at 2.84 with the second-best GAA (0.92)
4 - The 'Eaters enter the week on 4 straight draws, a program record. The record for draws in a season for UCI is 6 (2001, 2008)


THROW-INS
70th - Agaton Pourshahidi played his 70th career match on Saturday becoming the 40th Anteater to reach the mark
6 - The Anteaters are 1 of 6 programs (Penn, Columbia, UCLA, Delaware, Indiana) to be cautioned 1 time or less per match


SET PIECES
4 - The 'Eaters have earned 4 Big West awards, twice Offensive Player of the Week, one Defensive, and one Freshman
#20 - UC Irvine was ranked for the first time since 2019 starting at #22 and going as high as #20 in September

· The Anteaters earned two points last week from a pair of draws on the road:
+ Wednesday in Bakersfield was a 10:30 a.m. kickoff for Education Day at CSUB. The game swung back and forth with a UCI goal in the 15th minute and halftime lead that was erased on a 55th-minute header. A multitude of video reviews included a disallowed Gage Lyons goal, a handball awarded allowing a UCI penalty to gain the lead back in the 81st minute, and finally a red card in the 88th minute resulting in another CSUB equalizer with 10 seconds left for a 2-2 draw
+ Saturday night in Fullerton the 'Eaters were up in the 28th minute as Lyons jumped on a backline misplay. The Titans equalized in the 69th minute ending the match 1-1
· The Anteaters have drawn four consecutive matches, a program record. The previous mark of three happened once in 2001. It's was also 1 of 2 years including 2008 where UCI has drawn six times in a season. UCI is threatening those marks with five draws this season, only the sixth season in histories with five or more ties.
· UCI's stout defense has allowed 37 shots on goal, least in the Big West by 10, and an average of 2.84 shots on goal, 10 of which came just last week at Bakersfield and Fullerton
· The Anteaters have remained unbeaten in certain situations, namely in daytime starts (2-0-1), weekend matches (1-0-2), in matches decided by one goal (2-0), in home matches (5-0-3), when scoring first in a match (5-0-4), and when going into halftime ahead (3-0-4).
· UC Irvine entered the national rankings at No. 22 in September and improved as high as No. 20. It was the first time ranked since the 2019 preseason poll and highest ranking since 2015.

Wednesday vs. the Matadors
· CSUN started 2025 in fantastic fashion going 5-0-3 while allowing a single goal in the eight matches. They've come back down to Earth at 1-2-1 in their last four allowing five goals. A win at UC Riverside started Big West season, but since a home loss to CSUB and home draw to Sac State after they held a 2-0 edge in the match
· Coach Raz takes on his alma mater and former coach and colleague in, Terry Davila. UCI is 3-1 over the last four meetings which followed five straight CSUN wins. The last six matches have all been decided by one goal.
· The Matadors have been powered by defense with the ninth-best GAA (0.538) and four-best save percentage (90.5%) led by Dorian Drucks' 60 saves. The Matadors also lead the nation with 36 cautions. Half of their 10 goals are from Enrique Pineda (3 G) and Jorge Solorzano (2 G)

Saturday at the Hornets
· Sac State will entertain UCI on Saturday afternoon as they enter the week at 1-9-3. They're winless at home (0-4-2) with Cal Poly and UCI visiting this week. They've dropped three of four Big West games to CSUB, Fullerton, and at UC Riverside while drawing, 2-2, at CSUN
· The future full-time Big West member hosts UCI for the 11th time. UCI holds the all-time edge, 14-8-4, including four straight wins by a combined score of 9-1
· The Hornets are led by the powerful presence of Donovan Sessoms (1 G, 2 A) and two goals by Nick Strangio. The defense allows 7.47 shots on goal per game and has yet to record a shutout