Clutch Plays Lift UC Irvine to 2-1 Win

Wednesday, October 7

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 PM

UC Irvine

6-5-1, 2-1-0

CSUN

4-5-2, 0-1-1

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

Zac Smuck puts up a shot in a 2026 match vs. Oregon State

Photo by: Matt Brown

Clutch Plays Lift UC Irvine to 2-1 Win

October 07, 2026 | Men's Soccer

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's soccer came out on the winning side of another physical Big West soccer match topping CSUN, 2-1, Wednesday night in Anteater Stadium

Long Shot

The opening period was difficult to diagnose with each earning their chances in different ways
The Anteaters had the initial tries with a shot and corner in the opening minutes
CSUN sustained an attack for nearly 10 minutes starting in the 10th minute
- A pair of shots began the flurry with Scott Williams making one save
- Another earned a corner in the 16th minute and a long sequence of chances with four shots, one on goal, and four corner kicks that UC Irvine's defense consistently withstood coming out with the match still 0-0.
UC Irvine's reward was a goal in its first opportunity to follow
- A foul just outside CSUN territory put Ferran Duran on the ball. His low entry flew through the defense getting a piece of a Matador player enough to get by the committed keeper settling in the net to his right for a 1-0 UCI lead in the 25th minute
The offenses each earned a few shots down the rest of the period, but nothing too threatening as the half ended with UCI on top and little else to speak of.

Anybody's Game

The second half started simply enough with play throughout the field, but no real chances for the first 10 minutes
A corner kick in the 57th minute landed perfectly to Mario Nordstrom whose header was destined for goal if not for a spectacular save off the line by the CSUN defenders
Things really got turned up starting in the 67th minute from a CSUN corner
- The service was gathered and shot by the Matadors blocked before the second chance glanced off the crossbar.
- As play continued, a scuffle broke out in the box and CSUN's Tito Oyewo was shown a red card
- The Matadors would challenge and saw Oyewo's red downgraded to a yellow card for each team as play would continue for each side and full strength
Later that minute, another play in the UCI box resulted in a penalty kick for the Matadors with a chance to equalize
- Another VAR review was made as the play stood as called and Jorge Solorzano stepped up to take it
- Scott Williams made a dive to his left and saved the shot with his glove outstretched above his horizontal dive, and a follow up attempt was blocked to keep the 1-0 lead
- A flurry of cautions were handed out during and after the sequence including three to the Anteaters and a crucial one to CSUN's Enrique Pineda
Williams was big on another save on a Solorzano free kick from range in the 68th minute
UCI broke the CSUN attack and looked to counter, but a foul by Pineda was cautioned sending him off for his second yellow in the 71st minute
UCI would take advantage of that and find an insurance goal in the 76th minute
- James Arteaga fed Gage Lyons ahead up the left wing as he and the defender went down right near the box.
- With no call on the play, Lyons got up and delivered a pass across to Zac Smuck as the counter continued, and he would slot a shot home inside the right post for a 2-0 UCI lead
CSUN was not about to let off the gas as they finished with 20 shots on the match including 11 in the second half
One of those shots found the back of the net despite being down a man
- Dave-Ryan Tankou and Jack Cameron hustled up the left wing for a give-and-go, and Tankou's pass was tipped by Williams right to Cameron who finished to draw the match to within 2-1
The offenses continued to look for the next goal with Cameron getting another chance but sailing it high in the 82nd minute. Gage Lyons tried to finish a UCI counter in the 83rd minute, but Bryan Castaneda and his backline smothered a shot inside the six-yard box
Another Castaneda save in the 88th minute gave CSUN life as they made one final rush up the field, but a Solorzano attempt from distance fell right into Williams arms to finish the match

UC Irvine 2, CSUN 1

UCI needed just nine shots turning four of them on target while CSUN shot 20 times
Scott Williams came up with the huge penalty save, one of his five on the match as he earned his fourth win of the season.
UCI's initial goal was eventually ruled an own goal with Ferran Duran responsible for it
Zac Smuck's goal turned out to be the game-winner, his third career game-winning goal and second this season of his three total goals.
Assists were registered to Gage Lyons, his third and team-leading 13th point, and James Arteaga, his third of the season, and like Lyons now have points in each of the last two matches

The win for UCI is another three Big West points putting them on six in their three matches sitting alongside Utah Valley for first place in the conference. Next up is a road trip to Cal State Bakersfield and another chance for three points in a 7:00 p.m. match on Saturday, October 10

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by UC Irvine Men's Soccer (@ucimsoc)

FERRAANNNNNNN ???? from distance (26') and a little help for the opener! UC Irvine 1-0 CSUN #TWZ https://t.co/2QMhovu4Dx
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 8, 2026

SCOTT. WILLIAMS. ?????? #RipEm https://t.co/MmmyU9IBA3
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 8, 2026

The length of the field!! ?? Gage runs it down and Zac (76') punches it home UC Irvine 2-0 CSUN (10 men) #TWZ https://t.co/l89ru1FIzY
— UCI Men's Soccer (@UCImsoc) October 8, 2026