UCI women’s soccer seeks to rebound

When the most disappointing of his eight seasons as the UC Irvine women’s soccer coach didn’t sit well, Scott Juniper decided that none of his returning players would sit, period.

So, at the earliest possible opportunity, the Anteaters began working toward redemption in a 2015 season that begins with a home exhibition match against Richmond on Tuesday at 11 a.m.

“I wasn’t happy with the way it finished and we didn’t take a day off,” Juniper said of the aftermath of a 7-9-3 campaign that included a tie for fifth place in the Big West Conference, ending a streak of five straight appearances in the four-team conference postseason tournament. “We worked harder from the end of the season to the spring than we ever had and the team really bought into that. The players shared the feeling that we needed to be better. They’ve worked harder and we’re a better program now than we were 12 months ago.”

It’s also largely a new program as 10 true freshmen, three transfers and three redshirt freshmen make their debut in uniform on Tuesday.

“We have a lot of new faces, which is really exciting,” Juniper said. “It’s a high-energy environment to be around right now. The level of talent this year is higher in certain areas than it was before. It presents challenges for us as coaches and for returning players to up their game.”

The ‘Eaters will attempt to up their offensive production, after scoring 26 times in 19 games last season, a 1.37 per-game average that ranked No. 164 among 326 NCAA Division I teams. This challenge is enhanced by the departure of players who combined for 16 of last year’s goals, including 10 from first-team All-Big West forward Laura McGrail.

Gone also is first-team all-conference midfielder Cami Privett, leaving only four returners who started more than 10 games last season.

Leading the returners are veteran starters and tri-captains Clarissa Robles, Haley O’Brien and Kelsey Texeira, as well as fellow senior Claudia Lopez.

Robles had a team-best eight assists last season and will likely move from the back line to the midfield, in order to play a more catalytic role in the offense, Juniper said.

Kiana Palacios, a sophomore forward, leads all returners with four goals last season, when she made 14 starts.

Robles and O’Brien (who along with Texeira will anchor the back line as center backs), started all 19 games last season, in which UCI opened 0-4, then went 4-0-2 in a stretch that included a road win over a ranked Oklahoma squad, before going 3-5-1 down the stretch to wind up with the fewest wins in Juniper’s tenure.

“We learn from it and get back at it,” said Juniper, whose teams averaged 13 wins from 2009 to 2013, a five-season run that included a pair of conference titles. UCI was 26-5-4 in conference from 2010 to 2013, before stumbling out of the top half of the standings last fall.

Juniper said the roster turnover has created an improved chemistry.

“[The newcomers] have changed everything,” Juniper said. “Last year, I felt there was a hierarchy within the team and it was quite clear who the seniors were and who the freshmen were. There is more [equality] this year. The freshmen are already acting like seniors and I credit our team leadership for creating a culture in which the freshmen feel they can immediately spread their wings and show us what they can do.”

Palacios, who spent the summer training with Mexico’s U-20 national team, is expected to lead a scoring brigade that should be enhanced by transfers Brittany Doan (Gonzaga) and Nayeli Requejo (Cerritos Community College).

Doan, a sophomore forward, scored three times on 16 shots as a freshman at Gonzaga, for which she played in 14 games and started five.

Requejo amassed 63 goals and 42 assists in two seasons (both school records), while leading Cerritos to back-to-back state titles and earning the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America Division III (non-scholarship) national player of the year honor last season. Requejo, a former CIF Southern Section Player of the Year who led Bishop Amat High to back-to-back section titles her final two years as a prep, had 37 goals and 28 assists as a sophomore at Cerritos.

“She knows how to win, likes to win, and wants to win more,” Juniper said of Requejo.

Juniper said freshman Tatyana Garrett, and Noel Baham, a redshirt sophomore who played 18 games and started four last season after transferring from Santa Clara, are additional prospects at forward.

Sophomore Alex Karlowitsch, who had one goal and five assists in 19 games (four starts) as a freshman, is expected to help anchor the midfield, where Robles and Requejo are also projected to fill large roles.

Freshman Sammie James is also a threat in the midfield.

Freshman JJ Vogel, a former ball girl for the Anteaters who starred at Fountain Valley High and with the Newport Beach-based Slammers club program, is another hopeful at midfield, Juniper said.

Sophomore Andrea Mensen, as well as freshmen Shelby Lee, Lili Andino and Grayson Galbraith could factor in on the back line, in front of senior goalkeeper Corey Tobin, who is also being pushed by Fresno City College transfer Maria Magana and freshman Julia Kershaw.

UCI plays host to Cal State Northridge in a second exhibition game on Friday, before opening its regular season at home against Auburn on Aug. 21.

The conference opener is Oct. 4 at home against UC Riverside.