IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine women's soccer kicks off the UC Irvine Athletics competitive season with their 2025 schedule and home games as early as August 4. Tickets are on-sale now and start at just $7 per person!

Other notable features to the Anteater schedule includes:

• 11 home matches
  • 6 Sunday 1:00 p.m. matches
  • 5 Midweek 6:00 p.m. matches
• Two exhibition matches with free admission to fans
• Four opponents that appeared in the 2024 NCAA Tournament
• Promotional schedule with giveaways for most home matches

Head Coach Scott Juniper's squad begins play for his 18th season at the helm with a pair of Monday exhibition matches that are free admission to fans on August 4 and August 11. UCI hosts LMU to open things up on the 4th, and followed up by a visit from Trinity Western University on the 11th, both matches in Anteater Stadium kicking off at 6:00 p.m.

"It's really nice to have home games early. The two exhibition games are fascinating matchups for us, two very different opponents. P.J. Woolridge has built a really competitive schedule for us, and it's not just the ranking of our opponents, we want to face as many different types of opponent as possible. LMU are really familiar to us, we've played them at home recently, and they're establishing a style of play that is very difficult to play against. This is going to give us an opportunity to scout an opponent and challenge them. Close behind is Trinity Western University coming here from Canada, an opponent that we've heard really good things about, but we've never seen them play and they're going to be something completely different from LMU. We'll have a living game plan like all of ours are, but even more so against them and develop our understanding and grow within the game. They're really going to be phenomenal and fascinating matches at home." - head coach Scott Juniper

The regular season begins on the road in Arizona with a Thursday night battle at Grand Canyon, August 14. The Lopes have had four straight seasons with 11+ wins including two NCAA Tournament trips among them as the programs begin their 2025 seasons with their first-ever meeting. The weekend continues at Arizona with a Sunday morning matchup. The Big XII squad won at Anteater Stadium a year ago as part of an 11-win season as the sides meet for a seventh time in their histories. UCI's three-game road trip to begin the season finishes up at San Diego Thursday night, August 21.

"Grand Canyon has been a team that we've been trying to get on the schedule for a while. I think it's a really good matchup for us, it's going to be a testing trip to start, but we're always excited to play new teams. They've been in really good form the last few years and we're excited to take that one on. University of Arizona will be on a Sunday, and it's always a really good game even back to 2008 getting a win thanks to Mar Rodriguez slipping through their back line. This time around we're going to be challenged in how we adapt, in terms of rhythm and tempo and energy, and how we solve that along with the likely hot weather. That's followed up with training back on campus and a much shorter trip to San Diego; a team with a coach that's been there for a relatively short period of time and has changed the personality of that team and they're finding their identity quickly." - head coach Scott Juniper

The regular season home opener comes Sunday afternoon, August 24, with the University of Washington visiting, the first of four NCAA Tournament participants from 2024 to appear on the Anteater schedule. The Huskies have won 10 matches for the past two seasons which included a win over the 'Eaters in 2024 running their all-time record to 9-0 in the series. It is the Huskies' first time back at Anteater Stadium since the 2010 Sweet Sixteen matchup that ended in a double overtime UW victory.

"As a standalone game, to have the University of Washington come here for our regular season home opener is fantastic for our team. Credit to coach Woolridge all the work he did to line that up. It's a high-level game, potential to be a great crowd that day, and an opportunity for there to be a lot of eyes on that game. There's also so much history around this match, none bigger than 2010 - against all odds we made our way to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament after beating Arizona State and Wake Forest in incredible games, and Washington under the guidance then of Lesle Gallimore, was a really tough team. Our side was flying at the time, and that match was 0-0 deep into double overtime before we conceded. Even though it ended our run, it crystallized Anteater Stadium, the level that we reached in a very short space of time, and I think we proved a lot of people wrong. We've cycled through several teams since then, but that was a special group and will always be linked with the University of Washington. We're hoping to have a lot of alumni and supporters in attendance once again." - head coach Scott Juniper

UC Irvine is right back on the trail for two Northern California matchups the following week with another NCAA Tournament participant, Sacramento State, on August 28 with a swing by San Francisco on the way home, Sunday, August 31.

"We return to Northern California, and there happens to be Sacramento State which will give us a nice preview of a team that are going to be joining the Big West in a year from now. A nice piece of the puzzle, but again, an NCAA tournament-level team. And we match up with USF on the way out of town, a program that we've had back-and-forth battles with in recent meetings. It's a difficult place to play, they create a difficult atmosphere, and hopefully we get to grips with everything that's thrown at us early." - head coach Scott Juniper

September begins with a bang as UCI plays four straight in Anteater Stadium starting with a Sunday afternoon meeting with Northern Arizona, September 7. Next up is a primetime showdown with Santa Clara. The two-time National Champions most recently won it all in the 2020 season and have spent 10 straight seasons playing postseason soccer and finishing within the top-25. The Broncos and Anteaters meet for the 16th time in their histories, first since 2017, and the first in Anteater Stadium since 2015. The 'Eaters have one result all-time coming in a 2011 draw.

"It's nice to have a stretch of home games, travel can take it out of you and fatigue the team, so we get back home with Northern Arizona. They will be a challenging side, I remember running into them early in my coaching career, and up-and-down our schedule there's no easy games. We're going to have to play really close attention to some of the things that they do really well. Being at home, I think Anteater Stadium gives us a welcome advantage. It's important not to look ahead either with a program like Santa Clara, someone I love playing for so many different reasons. It's an extremely competitive game. They're high-level, sophisticated, but difficult. You can think you've scouted them, know what you're going to face, you form a game plan, and then they have a way of changing their formation, putting key players in different parts of the field, and we have to match a team that going to change based on time of the game or our tactics or rhythm or tempo; it's challenging going against a coaching staff that's the only one in California that's been together longer that ours has." - head coach Scott Juniper

The homestand continues with the non-conference finale and UC Irvine's Senior Day Celebration against Washington State, Sunday afternoon, September 14. The sides met to a 1-1 draw in Pullman a year ago, and its the first visit to UC Irvine for the former Pac-12 squad since 2013. The home stretch comes to an end with the opener of Big West play on Sunday, September 21 welcoming in UC Riverside.

"After that is our final game before Big West play and it doesn't get any easier with Washington State. The contrast between them and Santa Clara is huge - very, very different in the types of players they recruit. We remember the game just a year ago traveling to play there and to be disappointed that you don't get a victory at a place like that is a good place to be leaving with a 1-1 draw like we did. We're excited for that challenge, and I'm interested to see how playing at home in Anteater Stadium might shift some of the dynamics in our favor." - head coach Scott Juniper

The Anteaters run through their 10-game Big West ledger from late September through October. Following the opener against UC Riverside, the 'Eaters will also host UC Davis (10/2), UC Santa Barbara (10/16), Cal Poly (10/19), and UC San Diego (10/26). The remaining Big West opponents are road matchups including local trips to rivals Long Beach State (10/5) and Cal State Fullerton (10/23), and the final conference meeting with Hawai'i on the road to end the regular season (10/30) against the reigning regular season champions.

"Big West play is going to be very interesting as it is every year. The four teams we open with, three have head coaches that are new to the conference and a fourth in their second year. We start with a home game with UC Riverside with their new coach that's been around this area and kept on a lot of the staff from the prior regime; that is something that's going to set them up in a good way and we'll have to zero in on some of the new additions to the roster. We head to CSUN which is always difficult to play at, last year was a challenge to play against them, and their coach is building an identity over there. Another road trip to Cal State Bakersfield, a side we've had some cracking games against in recent years. A new head coach and you don't really know what to expect, but their coach's personality is going to be brought out onto the field and to their team quickly. UC Davis is coming off exceptional years back-to-back that are still a really good squad, and their new coach is extremely experienced. By the time we see them, they'll have a style developed and we're going to have to really look and see what the changes are. We're on the road this time to Long Beach State; Mauricio is someone I've coached against for nearly two decades now. It's always a fun matchup since we both have our game plans going in and then it changes as the game evolves, and the team always looks forward to the rivalry matchup. We go into a week off right in the middle of Big West action, and while that can be helpful to work through things or recover, you could also lose your rhythm or competitive energy you might have at that point. We jump right back into it though with UC Santa Barbara, last year's Big West representative in the NCAA Tournament, and Cal Poly, with a familiar coach in a new place, and that could be a weekend where Big West positioning will start to take shape and we're taking on two sides that very likely could be challenging for the top like they were last year, and now we have it on our terms in Anteater Stadium. The penultimate week being Cal State Fullerton and home vs. UC San Diego - you see it doesn't get easier. This conference is packed with extremely competitive teams and there's no time to take a breath, and that leaves us with one final game traveling to Hawai'i which sounds like a vacation but never is. No doubt we're going to have to arrive in Hawai'i ready for a really competitive game to close out the season." - head coach Scott Juniper

Printable Schedule
Promotional Schedule
 

Date	Women's Soccer Schedule
Aug. 4	vs. LMU (Exhibition)
Aug. 11	vs. Trinity Western (Exhibition)
Aug. 14	at Grand Canyon
Aug. 17	at Arizona
Aug. 21	at San Diego
Aug. 24	Washington
Aug. 28	at Sacramento State
Aug. 31	at San Francisco
Sep. 7	Northern Arizona
Sep. 11	Santa Clara
Sep. 14	Washington State
Sep. 21	* UC Riverside
Sep. 25	* at CSUN
Sep. 28	* at Cal State Bakersfield
Oct. 2	* UC Davis
Oct. 5	* at Long Beach State
Oct. 16	* UC Santa Barbara
Oct. 19	* Cal Poly
Oct. 23	* at Cal State Fullerton
Oct. 26	* UC San Diego
Oct. 30	* at Hawai'i
Nov. 2, 6, 9	Big West Championship

 
Home matches in Bold