WEEKLY MATCHUPS

UC Irvine Anteaters (9-3-6, 4-0-5 Big West) vs. Cal Poly Mustangs (9-5-5, 5-2-2 Big West)
Anteater Stadium (2,500) - Irvine, Calif.
Saturday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Championship Central

Match Notes

COUNTER ATTACKS
2.89 - UCI's defense has faced 15 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
3rd - Head Coach Yossi Raz earned Big West Coach of the Year for a 3rd time, 9th in program history for an Anteater coach
6 - UC Irvine has two different unbeaten streaks of 6 games or more starting the year 5-0-1 and currently on a 4-0-5 run

SET PIECES
6th - The 'Eaters shared the 2025 Big West regular season title, the program's 6th and 3rd under head coach Yossi Raz
#20 - UC Irvine was ranked for the first time since 2019 starting at #22 and going as high as #20 in September

· The Anteaters closed out Big West play with a win to claim a share of the Big West title:
+ A high-scoring affair Saturday in Anteater Stadium saw an early UCI goal, at UC Riverside equalizer in the final minute of the half, UC Irvine pull ahead with two goals in the first 14 minutes of the second half, and UCI hold the lead to win 3-2
+ Senior Night was also Saturday night with nine seniors recognized pre-match: Justin Conyers, Abraham Brown, Misael Gonzalez Lopez, Agaton Pourshahidi, Isaac Powell, Paul Jing, Nolan DiCenzo, Isaiah Quarcoo, and Travis Babineau
· Last week's big performer was Marcus Lee who had been quiet on the goal sheet all season until ringing home two goals in the span of 10 minutes to give UCI the lead for good. It's the third 2-goal game for an Anteater this year, and Lee now has 12 career points and two game-winners
· Misael Gonzalez Lopez got the scoring going Saturday with his seventh of the season that ties him atop the Big West overall goal scorers during the regular season. His 15 points gives him the outright points title in the Big West
· Travis Babineau added assists on two goals Saturday giving him four on the season. Hunny Yoo added an assist as well as Yoo, Babineau, and Lee all have four to lead the Anteaters
· The Anteaters are on their second six-match unbeaten streak of the year currently sitting at nine unbeaten (4-0-5). They also drew four straight to begin Big West play, a program record. UCI remains unbeaten at home (8-0-3), on weekends (3-0-3), games decided by one goal (5-0), when scoring first in the match (9-0-4), and when holding a halftime lead (6-0-4)

All-Big West Awards
· All-Big West honors were announced Wednesday with seven Anteaters recognized 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 title
· Honored from the team were three on the First Team, Agaton Pourshahidi, his second time, Brady Treinen, his second honor, first on the First Team, and Misael Gonzalez Lopez, who has scored All-Big West in each of his two seasons. Captain Nolan DiCenzo was 1 of 4 first-time honorees making Second Team. Other first-timers made Honorable Mention in Isaac Powell and Joe O'Shaughnessy with Gustavo Gonzalez made it 12 Anteaters on All-Freshman in coach Raz's eight season with four currently on the roster

Big West Semifinal
· Cal Poly will be UCI's semifinal opponent following a 2-0 First Round win over UCSD Wednesday. CP shared the regular season title with UCI and UCSB at 5-2-2 and have won four straight.
· The teams tied in the regular season for a second straight year as UCI remains a 22-14-11 lead in the all-time series and 5-1-2 mark under coach Raz. The sides have met twice before in the Big West Championship, both in San Luis Obispo, a 1-0 Mustang win in the 2015 First Round and a 2-1 UCI win in double overtime in the 2009 semifinal
· The Anteaters are back in the Big West Championship for a seventh straight year, 14th time overall, looking for their eight trip to the final, second title in three years, and sixth overall title.