WEEKLY MATCHUPS

UC Irvine Anteaters (10-3-6, 4-0-5 Big West) at [1] UC Santa Barbara (7-4-8, 4-0-5 Big West)
Harder Stadium (17,000) - Santa Barbara, Calif.
Friday - 7:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Championship Central

Match Notes

COUNTER ATTACKS
2.89 - UCI's defense has faced 19 less shots on goal than any other Big West school at 2.89 SOG allowed per match
20:20 - UCI trailed for a total of 20:20 in their 9 Big West matches and held the lead for 369:06 as it went 4-0-5 in Big West

THROW-INS
5th - Friday's matchup is the 5th meeting in the final with these squads, and also the 5th straight postseason they've played
8th - Advancing Friday would give UCI its 8th trip to the NCAA Tournament and 6th by way of the Big West Championship

SET PIECES
6th - The 'Eaters shared the 2025 Big West regular season title, the program's 6th and 3rd under head coach Yossi Raz
3rd - Head Coach Yossi Raz earned Big West Coach of the Year for a 3rd time, 9th in program history for an Anteater coach

· UC Irvine won a hotly-contested Big West Semifinal over Cal Poly Saturday in Anteater Stadium:
+ The intensity was evident as the teams were cautioned six times on 28 fouls. Two tactically-sound and well-coached squads played even for 83 minutes with UCI taking possession at 56%
+ The decisive goal in the 1-0 win came in the 84th minute as Misael Gonzalez Lopez played a brilliant through ball to Gage Lyons who beat the Mustangs to it and chipped the keeper
· Last week's big performer shines on Joe O'Shaughnessy with his eighty clean sheet and the team's ninth making three saves including a massive one in the 17th minute. He's up to 1,665 minutes played, fourth in the nation, and tops among underclassmen
· Lyons put home his third game-winner of the season as the only Anteater with multiple game-winners among their 10 this year, and he goes second on the club with five goals and 11 points
· Three Anteaters are on the roster that have played in a Big West Final—Nolan DiCenzo and Brady Treinen were starters in 2023 with Agaton Pourshahidi off the bench, and eight 'Eaters saw action in last year's semifinal loss to UCSB including Isaiahs Gutierrez putting home his first career goal that had the 'Eaters up briefly, 1-0, in the 58th minute
· The Anteaters are on their second unbeaten streak of six or more matches this year currently sitting at 10 unbeaten (5-0-5). They also drew four straight to begin Big West play, a program record. UCI stayed unbeaten at home (9-0-3), on weekends (4-0-3), games decided by one goal (6-0), when scoring first in the match (10-0-4), and when holding a halftime lead (6-0-4). This will be UCI's fourth Friday match having picked up a win (Yale), draw (UNH), and loss (at UNLV)

All-Big West Awards
· All-Big West honors last week featured seven Anteaters and one major award going to Yossi Raz as Big West Coach of the Year. It's his third honor in eight seasons with UCI, the ninth overall honor for UCI coaches, helping to his third Big West regular season title
· Honored from the team were Agaton Pourshahidi, Brady Treinen, and Misael Gonzalez Lopez on the First Team, captain Nolan DiCenzo making Second Team, and honorable mention for Isaac Powell and Joe O'Shaughnessy. Gustavo Gonzalez made All-Freshman Team.

Big West Final
· UC Santa Barbara brings their impressive 13-match unbeaten streak to the Big West Final, and they get to play on their homefield where they're 5-1-4 this year. The lone loss came to Cornell, 1-0, a team that lost two matches all year, one at the Anteaters
· The regular season matchup three weeks ago was a 0-0 draw. This will be the ninth meeting in the Big West Championship with UCI up, 5-3, all-time. The teams have met the last four postseasons with UCSB winning three. The Gauchos are in the Final for a 10th time, but with all their success they've only won this tournament twice before. After winning the first three matchups in the final against UCSB in 2008, 2009, and 2011, UCSB took the most recent in 2021
· The Anteaters are back in the Big West Championship for a seventh straight year, 14th time overall, and make the final for an eighth time. UCI has won the Championship five times and once under coach Raz in 2023, and advancing Friday would put UCI in the NCAA Tournament for an eighth time and third under coach Raz.