WEEKLY MATCHUPS

Big West Championship - First Round
[4] UC Irvine Anteaters (8-4-7, 5-2-3 Big West) vs. [5] UC Santa Barbara (12-4-4, 5-2-3 Big West)
Anteater Stadium (2,500) - Irvine, Calif.
Sunday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats

Match Notes

COUNTER ATTACKS
3.32 - UCI's defense allows the least amount of shots on goal in the conference at 3.32 per match (53 saves, 10 goals allowed)
10 & 0 - UC Irvine led all schools with 10 on All-Big West teams even after winning 0 Big West Players of the Week in 2025

THROW-INS
6th - UCI's defense boasts the nation's 6th-lowest GAA allowing a total of 10 goals and wrapping up 10 shutouts this year
5 - Mia Colombini led all players with 5 goals in Big West matches, the first UCI scoring leader since Scarlett Camberos in 2021

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
2nd - Mia Colombini earned the 2nd Big West Midfielder of the Year honor for the program joining Kiana Palacios (2017)

· The Anteaters finished with an emphatic win and jumped from sixth to fourth in the Big West
+ UCI traveled to Hawai'i and scored twice in the first half while Savanna Arruda recorded her first career win, 2-0, splitting time with Laurynn Ziller for the team's 10th shutout
+ A number of new Anteaters slid into the starting lineup led by Aislynn Crowder playing the first minute in her home state after missing all 2025 and most of 2024 with injury. Joining her were first-time starters Jenika Davis, Gianna Costello, and Alissey Fang. Kelsey Swyney added to the firsts with her first career goal and point to make things 2-0 in the 34th minute
· The Anteater defense continues to shine allowing 10 goals all season and a total of 63 shots on goal calculating to 3.32 shots on goal allowed per match. As a unit, UCI is sixth in the nation with a 0.526 goals-against-average putting up 10 shutouts between Savanna Arruda with a 93.8% save percentage and Laurynn Ziller's 0.59 GAA, 14th-lowest in the nation
· Mia Colombini added a goal Thursday, her seventh of the year which ties her for the Big West lead. It was her fifth Big West goal putting her alone at the top among Big West scorers. Colombini is the first Anteater since Scarlett Camberos in 2021 to lead the Big West in goals
· Ella Colombini assisted on her sister's goal, the second time this season they've connected. Colombini now has seven assists, second-most in the Big West

All-Big West Honors
· All-Big West awards were announced with UC Irvine leading the pack with 10 honorees, and all without taking home any player of the week awards in the regular season
· Mia Colombini secured Big West Midfielder of the Year from her five goals in Big West play to lead all scorers and seven overall goals to tie for the scoring title. She joins Kiana Palacios from 2017 as the only Midfielder of the Year winners in program history
· UC Irvine's honorees including nine of 10 first-time award recipients starting with first-teamers Mia Colombini and Suus de Bakker. Seven more Anteaters were listed on the honorable mention team with the only returning award winner, Ivy Williams, after making All-Freshman Team a year ago. The rest were Ella Colombini, Hailey Clingan, Clara Samson, Mihaela Perez, Trinity Morales, and Laurynn Ziller. One 'Eater scored All-Freshman Team in Fiona Shin.

Big West First Round vs. the Gauchos
· UC Santa Barbara will be UCI's first round opponent after going from potential Big West champions with a win Thursday to losing at UC San Diego and dropping to the 5-seed. UCSB is 12-4-4 on the year finishing even with UCI in Big West with 5-3-2 records
· The 2025 matchup went UC Irvine's way winning 2-0 from Mihaela Perez scoring from midfield just before the halftime whistle and a Suus de Bakker goal off a corner in the 50th minute
· This is the third meeting in the Big West Championship with the sides splitting the first two. Both matchups were semifinals in Anteater Stadium with UCI winning most recently in 2021, 1-0, while UCSB scored 20 seconds into the match in 2018 for a 1-0 win