Saturday, November 7
Irvine, Calif.
6:00 PM
UC Irvine
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Photo by: Jacob Thompson
November 05, 2026 | Men's Soccer
THIS WEEK IN ANTEATER SOCCER
Big West Championship Semifinal[2] UC Irvine Anteaters (10-6-2, 4-1-1) vs. [3] UC Santa Barbara (9-5-4, 3-1-2)
Anteater Stadium - Irvine, Calif..
Saturday - 6:00 PM | ESPN+ | Live Stats | Digital Program
Storylines
+ UC Irvine finished second in the Big West reaching 10 wins in the regular season and sported an unbeaten streak that stretched to seven matches at one point (6-0-1).
+ Goalkeeping has seen Joe O'Shaughnessy and Scott Williams played substantial minutes. The team shutout streak ended at CBU at 481:10, but Scott Williams is still alive with a scoreless streak up to 392:51 and a season GAA of 0.534.
+ Records are being rewritten with Brady Treinen up to 16 career assists, 13th in UCI history, and about to play his 78th match, one behind the UCI record. Gage Lyons has put up five game-winning goals this year, one off from UCI's single-season record, and he's in a tie for fifth in career game-winners with eight.
Saturday vs. the Gauchos
+ UC Santa Barbara returns to Anteater Stadium for the second time in two weeks. The Gauchos finished third in the Big West going 9-5-4 and its only Big West loss to the 'Eaters, 1-0. The Gauchos are slightly ahead of UCI in terms of RPI and have a real shot of making the NCAA Tournament even if they don't take home the automatic bid.
+ All-time UCI's win made it 37-21-9 UCSB in the all-time series. The teams met in the 2025 final, a 2-1 win for UCI, which helped them improve to 6-3 against UCSB in Big West postseason matches with a 3-0 record in Anteater Stadium. This will be the sixth straight tournament where the schools meet
+ The Gauchos have done it with offense with 28 goals, 10 from sophomore Steinar Bjornsson, and the conference leaders in shots and shots on goal per match. They also commit the most fouls, 14.39, ninth-most in the nation, and their defense is led by sophomore Owen Beninga, the nation's leader in minutes with 1,620.
Big West Championship History
+ Big West hosts its 18th Big West Championship of which UCI has been part of 15 including eight straight. The Anteaters lead all Big West schools with 15 championship wins and six titles.
+ Anteater Stadium features an 11-2-4 record in postseason contests including a 3-0 mark vs. UCSB
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Soccer
GK
/ Men's Soccer
D
/ Men's Soccer
GK
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