No. 11 Anteaters Top UC Riverside 3-1
Nov. 5, 2008
IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 11 UC Irvine men's soccer team (11-1-6, 4-1-4) defeated UC Riverside 3-1 Wednesday night in Big West play at Anteater Stadium.
Senior Matt Murphy (Anaheim Hills/Mater Dei HS) put UCI up 1-0 as he kicked it in off a throw in from sophomore Gray Bailey (Huntington Beach HS) in the 3rd minute. Murphy then put the ‘Eaters up 2-0 as he broke through the Highlander defense down the field and blasted the ball in from just outside the box in the 10th minute. Matt Murphy pushed the ball up to junior Irving Garcia (San Luis, Ariz./Yavapai College) who hit a through ball to senior Rafael Macedo (South Gate/Salesian HS) who beat the keeper on a one on one to give UCI a 3-0 lead in the 52nd minute. Cesar Diaz put the Highlanders on the board in the 79th minute as he knocked it in from inside the box to cut the lead to 3-1.
Freshman keeper Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) had five saves for the ‘Eaters. Keeper Ryan Schmitz had four saves for UCR.
Matt Murphy’s first goal tied him for the UCI career goals record and the second one gave him the career record. His second goal of the match ended up as his 11th career gamewinning goal to give him the UCI career record in that category as well. His assist on Macedo’s goal moved him into seventh all-time at UCI with 17.
The Anteaters move into third place in the Big West with 16 points on the year. UC Davis and Cal State Northridge are tied for fourth with 15 points each. Cal Poly leads with 18 points, but is done with Big West play, UC Santa Barbara is second with 17 points and will travel to UC Davis Saturday.
The Anteaters will conclude the regular season Saturday as they head to Northridge to take on Cal State Northridge in Big West action at 2:00 p.m. at Matador Soccer Field.
