Men's Soccer Brings Out 2025 Schedule
July 09, 2025 | Men's Soccer
Head Coach Yossi Raz and the Anteaters begin the year in grand fashion with their first seven matches at home. Anteater Stadium opens Saturday, August 16 with an exhibition against Cal Poly Pomona, a visit from coach Raz's former school coached by former Anteater assistant Matt O'Sullivan who has taken the squad to the Division II NCAA Tournament in all five of his seasons and won a match in all five. The 'Eaters also welcome in Division II side Cal State LA during the regular season, Thursday, August 28, the national champions from 2021 and home to another former Anteater assistant, Dallas Jaussi.
"We are trying to build the hardest schedule that we can build, create a competitive schedule, and that includes the exhibitions. Cal Poly Pomona is a very good squad, we know they're going to challenge us and give us elements to work on. That goes for Cal State LA as well. They won a national title recently, and we want to play the best teams from any division. Both sides are going to contend to win a conference title and national title this year. We're expecting difficult games from each of them." - head coach Yossi Raz
The Anteaters' home opener August 21 is none other than the UCLA Bruins. The Big Ten side is coming off a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and they return to Anteater Stadium for the 12th time and third time in the coach Raz era. UCI has played the Bruins tough with a pair of one-goal losses recently and a draw back in 2019, but are searching for their first win against them since 2013.
UCI's home stretch continues on into the middle of September with some top-tier talent and programs coming to Anteater Stadium. A pair of NCAA Tournament squads from a year ago, North Florida and Cornell, make appearances in a pair of 4:00 p.m. kickoffs. Perennial postseason programs are also in the mix in New Hampshire, on a run of 10 consecutive winning seasons, and Yale, a year removed from an NCAA Tournament appearance, round out the seven home matches to start the season.
"This is the benefit of traveling on the road in previous years and now those programs return and play in Anteater Stadium. This is my hope for building a great program and our community can enjoy us competing against the very best and we can share our play with them." - head coach Yossi Raz
Men's soccer then shifts to the road for the final three non-conference matchups with more impressive, local opponents. UCI travels to San Diego, a program coming off a Sweet Sixteen trip and has won two-thirds of their matches in the past two seasons, that is followed by a Monday night affair at California Baptist, a school joining the Big West after this season, and rounding out with a third road match in 10 days with another challenging side, UNLV.
"Before Big West, we play sides like San Diego who has been a premier program on the West Coast recently. We have California Baptist on the road and UNLV, both very good programs that each have a chance to win their conference." - head coach Yossi Raz
The season rolls over in October right along with Big West play. The Anteaters open conference action with two home matches against UC San Diego and last year's regular season champions, Cal Poly, on a Saturday night. The Anteaters also welcome in CSUN (10/15), UC Davis (10/22), and UC Riverside for the regular season finale Saturday night, November 1 as their home Big West matchups. UCI's rugged road through the conference sends them to Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Fullerton, Sacramento State, and UC Santa Barbara.
"I'm excited to get to begin conference at home. The Big West is so hard to play in and to win it you need to take advantage of everything you can. A strong start goes a long way and playing in Anteater Stadium gives us a better chance to start right and set us up to finish on top. The Big West is very complex and unpredictable just like the game of soccer. You get one battle at a time and give it your full attention to every opponent that comes your way." - head coach Yossi Raz
Big West Championship play begins the November 5 with semifinals on the 8th and final the 15th. The entire men's soccer tournament is played on campus sites with top two seeds earning a bye to the semifinals.
Printable Schedule
Promotional Schedule
| Date | Men's Soccer Schedule |
|---|---|
| Aug. 16 | Cal Poly Pomona (Exh.) |
| Aug. 21 | UCLA |
| Aug. 28 | Cal State LA |
| Aug. 31 | North Florida |
| Sep. 5 | New Hampshire |
| Sep. 8 | Cornell |
| Sep. 12 | Yale |
| Sep. 17 | at San Diego |
| Sep. 22 | at California Baptist |
| Sep. 26 | at UNLV |
| Oct. 1 | * UC San Diego |
| Oct. 4 | * Cal Poly |
| Oct. 8 | * at Cal State Bakersfield |
| Oct. 11 | * at Cal State Fullerton |
| Oct. 15 | * CSUN |
| Oct. 18 | * at Sacramento State |
| Oct. 22 | * UC Davis |
| Oct. 25 | * at UC Santa Barbara |
| Nov. 1 | * UC Riverside |
| Nov. 6, 9, 16 | Big West Championship |
FAN & TICKET INFORMATION
Buy Tickets | Fan Guide
Anteater Stadium offers easy access to top Division I soccer for Orange County and Southern California residents. With a recently added video board and upgraded sound system, Anteater Stadium continues to deliver family friendly entertainment in a fun collegiate environment for a great value! Tickets start at just $7 and can be purchased in advance online!
Group tickets are available for purchases of 15 or more tickets and can include videoboard recognition, photo on the field, team walk-out, halftime scrimmage and more! To organize a group outing, please contact Director of Ticket Sales & Service, Manny Leon, at 949-824-8779 or manny.leon@uci.edu.
Questions? We'll call you! Fill out the Ticket Interest Form or contact the Ticket Office at 949-824-5000 or tickets@uci.edu.
