WEEKLY MATCHUPS

UC Irvine Anteaters (7-4-5, 4-2-1 Big West) at Cal State Fullerton Titans (11-2-2, 4-2-1 Big West)
Titan Stadium (10,000) - Fullerton, Calif.
Thursday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats

UC Irvine Anteaters (7-4-5, 4-2-1 Big West) vs. UC San Diego Tritons (4-6-6, 2-3-2 Big West)
Anteater Stadium (2,500) - Irvine, Calif.
Sunday - 1:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats

Match Notes
Promotional Schedule

COUNTER ATTACKS
2 - Mihaela Perez has 2 career goals, both coming off free kicks from midfield including Thursday's GWG vs. UCSB
3.31 - UCI's defense allows the least amount of shots on goal in the conference at 3.31 per match (44 saves, 9 goals allowed)

THROW-INS
9 - UCI's defense has allowed 9 goals and sports the 9th-best GAA while allowing its first 2-goal game all year Sunday
107 - 107 'Eaters have played in 50 career matches for UCI with three joining this year - Mirayah Villalpando, Mia Colombini, Ella Colombini

SET PIECES
3-2-4 - UCI finished with a 3-2-4 non-conference record including a draw with Washington and wins over Washington State and GCU
13 - UCI enters the week on 13 Big West points, 4 points off 1st, and a chance to clinch a postseason spot this week

· The Anteaters split their matches last week winning Thursday before a Sunday loss:
+ The week began Thursday night vs. UC Santa Barbara. The 'Eaters got a huge boost with a goal two seconds before halftime, and added a second in the 50th minute to leapfrog UC Santa Barbara in the standings with a 2-0 win
+ Sunday's match against Cal Poly began with both sides even on points. The Mustangs took the lead on an own goal followed by a UCI penalty to tie things in the 37th minute. Cal Poly struck back with a score in the 40th minute to ride that to a 2-1 victory in Anteater Stadium
· The Anteaters have some top contributors this Big West season
+ Mia Colombini knocked in her fourth goal in Big West play which is tied for the conference lead while putting two in for game-winners and all on just nine conference shots
+ Suus de Bakker had three goals of her own in Big West play to lead all defenders. She's also one of the few defenders, along with teammate Mihaela Perez, with a Big West game-winner
· Laurynn Ziller is among the nation's best keepers, and her 0.61 goals-against-average this season is currently tied for UCI's single-season best GAA posted by Kirsten Roy in 1998
· Notable milestones begin with Suus de Bakker who recently reached 4,000 minutes and 50 starts. de Bakker and Mihaela Perez each hit 75 career matches on Sunday and is up over 5,800 career minutes. Three Anteaters have joined de Bakker and Perez in the 50-match club in Mirayah Villalpando, Ella Colombini, and Mia Colombini. There was also an Anteater that made their debut last week in third-year forward Kelsey Swyney playing both matches and totaling 37 minutes after missing two years due to injuries.

Thursday at the Titans
· Cal State Fullerton has had a fairy tale season at 11-2-2 at this point. They were unbeaten and on the verge of a national ranking before losing at UCSB and Cal Poly the week prior. A 1-0 win at UCSD last week got them back to 13 points even with the Anteaters.
· Titan Stadium has been heaven for the Titans going 6-0-2 this season outscoring opponents 13-4. Fullerton has the all-time edge, 17-14-7, and have won the last two regular season meetings in Titan Stadium, but UCI has won the last three postseason games there since 2022.
· The Titans boast an impressive 22 goals to seven allowed. Isabella Cruz (5 G, 5 A) and Camryn Cruz (6 G, 1 A) have run the attack while putting home nine of the 11 game-winners. Isaac Ranson has been a top Big West goalie as well with 49 saves, nine shutouts, and a 0.48 GAA

Sunday vs. the Tritons
· UC San Diego enters on the outside looking in to the Big West Championship. They have eight Big West points keeping things close in their losses to CSUB, Cal Poly, and Fullerton along with a draw with CSUN and a chance to make up ground with three matches left against three of the teams directly ahead of them starting at Long Beach State Thursday
· Since the sides became Division I rivals, UCSD has been a thorn in UCI's side winning once and drawing in three straight over the four matchups
· The Tritons have ridden redshirt freshman Ava Tibor's coattails with five of the team's 12 goals while Alexi Nguyen (1 G, 1 A, 22 shots, 14 SOG) has paced the offense with being rewarded to this point. Another redshirt freshman Charlotte Wilfert (71 sv, 0.94 GAA) has played every minute in goal helping score seven shutouts