WEEKLY MATCHUPS

UC Irvine Anteaters (4-0-1, 0-0 Big West) vs. Yale Bulldogs (0-2-1, 0-0 Ivy League)
Anteater Stadium (2,500) - Irvine, Calif.
Friday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats 

Match Notes
Promotional Schedule

COUNTER ATTACKS
#22 - UC Irvine hops into the national rankings at No. 22, its first ranking since the 2019 preseason poll where they sat No. 25
 
8 - UCI has had 8 different goal scorers, three scoring their first in a UCI uniform, and one, Zac Smuck, to net his first NCAA goal


THROW-INS
+10 - The Anteaters have a +10 goal differential, 1 of 12 schools with a differential of 10 or more on the season
 
11th - Misael Gonzalez Lopez's four goals lead the Big West and rank 11th in the NCAA


SET PIECES
2 - The 'Eaters have earned the first 2 Big West Offensive Players of the Week - Isaac Powell and Misael Gonzalez Lopez
 
20 - UCI is unbeaten through 5 matches, 1 of 20 programs that can say that, and 1 of 42 programs that remain unbeaten overall

· The Anteaters remain unbeaten after a draw and win last week against East Coast foes:
+ The 'Eaters entertained New Hampshire on Friday striking first on a penalty kick in the 16th minute, the fourth goal in the last three matches for Misael Gonzalez Lopez. The visitors drained a golazo in the 56th minute to even things up at 1-1
+ UCI and Cornell went toe-to-toe in a battle of unbeatens with the Anteaters coming away with the 1-0 win. Hunny Yoo and Zac Smuck teamed up for a goal against the run of play in the 59th minute while Joe O'Shaughnessy stood on his head for four saves and his third shutout
· Misael Gonzalez Lopez continues to lead the team and conference in scoring with four goals in the first five matches giving him eight points
· Zac Smuck delivered his first career goal and point Monday going down as the game-winner for the true freshman. He joins Travis Babineau and Gage Lyons as players to open their Anteater accounts this season
· Hunny Yoo contributed toward his third goal with an assist Monday, his second to lead the team, and has drawn a foul leading to an Anteater penalty kick this season
· First collegiate points this season have come for Smuck and Yoo along with center back Gustavo Gonzalez whose assist was his first collegiate point for the true freshman. Freshmen have accounted for 906 minutes collecting 11 starts, one goal, and three points among five 'Eaters
· On the stat sheet, UCI holds edges on the overall season in shots (55-38), corner kicks (23-15), and committed seven fewer fouls all while allowing 14 total shots on goal from the defense
· Joe O'Shaughnessy's start to his Division I era was finally smudged on a world-class goal against New Hampshire, but the first-year Anteater stays unbeaten at 4-0-1 part of all four shutouts and three clean sheets of his own. He has saved 91.7% of shots good for 19th in the nation totaling 11 saves with a high of four twice, and the 11th-best goals-against-average at 0.23
· UC Irvine enters the national rankings at No. 22 this week. It's the first time ranked since the 2019 preseason poll had UCI at No. 25. UCI's Monday opponent Cornell also entered the rankings now at No. 23 after they were No. 22 preseason, and UCI's opponent next week, San Diego, who began at No. 10 now sit No. 25. The 'Eaters have slowly added votes each week going from zero in the preseason to five to 11 and now 24 in the most recent rankings

Friday vs. the Bulldogs
· Yale heads to California to face UCI and SDSU looking to right the ship. Yale are 0-2-1 having played three times in the state of Connecticut and are coming off a 4-11-1 season while being just two years removed from an 11-win campaign and NCAA Tournament appearance and win
· UCI and the Ivy League face off for a second straight match after the 'Eaters defeated Cornell, 1-0. UCI is now 3-3 all-time against the Ivy League. That includes a loss to Yale in their only meeting in 2023. The Bulldogs won 2-0 on their turf and return four players from that match including two that linked up on the first score, Simon Adjakple and Joseph Farouz. UC Irvine also returns four players - Brady Treinen, Isaac Powell, and starters Nolan DiCenzo and Agaton Pourshahidi
· The Bulldogs finished last in the 2024 Ivy League and are projected to finish seventh this year with nine players back that played 10 or more matches. They look to lean on Farouz and Diego Zaffanella, but have two of their three goals from first-years Sabalian Roy and William Altirs