'Eaters Stay Unbeaten with 1-0 Win

Monday, September 8

Irvine, Calif.

4:00 PM

UC Irvine

4-0-1, 0-0-0

Cornell

2-1-0, 0-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Cornell	0	0	0
UC Irvine	0	1	1

agaton-pourshahidi-zac-smuck-uci-msoc-2025-calpolypomona-cornell

Photo by: Matt Brown

'Eaters Stay Unbeaten with 1-0 Win

September 08, 2025 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer improved to 4-0-1 on the season with a 1-0 win Monday afternoon in Anteater Stadium handing Cornell their first loss.

Battling Big Red

The first half was a battle of tactics with either side building chances and defenses that were equally up to the task
Scoring chances were few and far between with Cornell finishing more of theirs off with shots
- The best chance for either side came in the 26th minute as Cornell set up for a free kick
- From 22 yards out, the Big Red put one on frame with Joe O'Shaughnessy diving to punch it away and keep the match scoreless
The Anteaters had one shot to Cornell's five. The one shot was on target with Isaiah Quarcoo getting on the end of a cross and heading along to be caught by the keeper

Finding Form

The Big Red continued to press putting four more shots up in the first 12 minutes of the second half, and O'Shaughnessy up to the task stopping two more
That set up the Anteaters' first chance coming in the 59th minute
- UCI broke out on the counter started by Travis Babineau finding Hunny Yoo along the right wing and on the touchline.
- Yoo slipped a pass through Cornell and their keeper with the ball free near the goalline for Zac Smuck pouncing and cleaning it up into the back of the net
The final half hour of the match had Cornell looking for an equalizer coming out with a majority of the possession finishing with 62% on the match
- O'Shaughnessy saved his best save for when he needed it coming off his line to turn away a low, hard attempt in the 67th minute
UCI's counter helped salt away the clock in Cornell's half as the 'Eaters had three more chances late to grow their lead

UC Irvine 1, Cornell 0

UCI's win gets them to 4-0-1 remaining unbeaten in their season-opening home stand.
- The loss for Cornell was its first of 2025 now 2-1 after beginning the year ranked No. 22. All-time, the 'Eaters draw even at 3-3 against Ivy League opponents
O'Shaughnessy stood tall for his third shutout of the year, fourth for the program. He added four saves to tie his high on the season
The goal for Smuck was his first collegiate goal and point finishing as the game-winning goal
Assists went to Hunny Yoo and Travis Babineau on the goal. Babineau now has three points on the year while Hoo takes the team lead with his second assist
UCI was out-shot in the match, 12-6, and 4-2 in shots on goal. They did finish with one more corner kick and were whistled for two less fouls to Cornell while the Anteaters were drawn offside eight times to one for Cornell