Another tie for UCI
IRVINE — On Friday, the UC Irvine women’s soccer team played host to one team it finished behind last season, costing the Anteaters a spot in the Big West Conference Tournament for the first time in six years.
The top four teams qualify for the postseason tournament, and Cal State Northridge was the fourth, finishing three points ahead of the Anteaters, who shared fifth.
The latest contest against the Matadors didn’t count toward this year’s conference standings. The programs met in an exhibition match at Anteater Stadium, a tune-up for both before they open the season next week.
The Anteaters have failed to win during exhibition play, coming up with a scoreless draw with the Matadors. The Anteaters tied Richmond, 1-1, at home on Tuesday.
In two exhibition matches, UCI has produced the same amount of goals it totaled in the first four matches last year. Finding the back of the net was an issue for UCI last year. The lack of offense resulted in the Anteaters beginning the year with four straight nonconference losses.
The start of this year’s schedule won’t be easy for UCI. Two of the first three matches for the Anteaters are against formidable opponents. Auburn comes to UCI on Friday, and the Tigers are outside of the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America Division 1 top-25 preseason poll, while Texas A&M, which plays host to UCI on Aug. 28, is No. 5 in the country.
The Anteaters are young, with 10 true freshmen, three redshirt freshmen, six sophomores and two redshirt sophomores. Seven of those players started on Friday night, and UCI Coach Scott Juniper said his team has time to work things out.
“There [are] always so many different layers that you want to try and see in an exhibition,” said Juniper, who enters his ninth season in charge of the Anteaters, who went 7-9-3 overall and 3-4-1 in conference last year. “This was our last chance to really see a bunch of different layers. [We have] so many new players on the field. They’ve already got that feeling of playing for their teammates and sticking together.
“It’s going to take a few weeks for it to be where we need it to be, but I think to be where we’re at now, given that we got 13 new players on the squad, we’re actually really pleased. The staff [members] have just been working their butts off to teach a system.”
The Anteaters created the most offensive pressure in the first 18 minutes against the Matadors. Two almost involved redshirt sophomore Noel Baham.
The forward, who was deep in the box, couldn’t get to a cross from sophomore Kiana Palacios in the 16th minute. Two minutes later, a defender took Baham down in the box, but the referee didn’t award UCI a penalty kick.
The best chance for the Matadors came in the 24th minute, on a free kick barely outside the top of the box. They turned to one of the three Kutscher sisters to take the free kick, and senior goalkeeper Corey Tobin didn’t have to do much because Kourtney Kutscher’s shot went wide.
The Anteaters put together two more solid first-half opportunities. Clarissa Robles drew a free kick on the right side, five yards outside the box. Robles, one of four returning starters, took the free kick and nothing came of it. Then in the 40th minute, Palacios had a good look in the box, although a defender barely deflected the shot and it skipped out of play.
The shots on goal came hard to come by for both sides. Breanna McCallum struck two balls from near the top of the box for the Matadors in the second half, yet each sailed wide.
While the final exhibition ended without any goals, the teams practiced on their penalty kicks afterward. Juniper said you never know when his players will be in a similar opportunity down the road.
“Conference championship or NCAA playoff game, so it’s nice for the players to just feel it a little bit,” said Juniper, whose team is picked to finish fourth in the conference and the Matadors fifth.
