Oct. 26, 2009
NO. 19 ANTEATERS AT CAL STATE FULLERTON; HOST NO. 6 UC SANTA BARBARA: The No. 19 UC Irvine men’s soccer team (11-4, 4-2) will travel cross-county Wednesday to face Cal State Fullerton at 7:00 p.m. at Titan Stadium in Big West action. The ‘Eaters then return home Saturday to host No. 6 UC Santa Barbara at 7:00 p.m. at Anteater Stadium.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Titans are 7-7-2 overall and 3-3-1 in Big West play. Celso Alvarez leads Fullerton with 11 points on the year. Keeper Trevor Whiddon has a 1.27 goals against average and one shutout on the year. UCI won the only match between the two schools 2-1 in 2008. Fulleron leads the all-time series 17-15-6.
The No. 6 Gauchos are 11-3-1 overall and 5-1 in Big West matches entering the week. Danny Barrera and Michael Nonni each have 16 points to lead UCSB. Keeper Sam Hayden has a 0.80 goals against average and nine shutouts this year. UCSB defeated UCI 1-0 earlier this season at Harder Stadium.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The ‘Eaters went 2-0 on the week with a pair of 2-1 victories over Cal Poly and at UC Davis. Senior Kevin Santora (Los Altos/Belleramine College Prep), senior Carlos Aguilar (Palmdale/Taft College), junior Amani Walker (San Diego/Francis Parker HS) and freshman Zach Olow (Poway HS) each had goals on the week while Aguilar had assists on both game-winning goals. Junior goalkeeper Victor Chinchilla (Palmdale/Taft College) had seven saves on the week.
AGUILAR STEPS UP: Carlos Aguilar was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week after his five point performance against Cal Poly and UC Davis. Aguilar had game-winning assists in both matches and tied the match against Cal Poly with a goal of his own.
HONORS ROLL IN FOR GARCIA: Senior Irving Garcia (San Luis, Ariz./Yavapai College) earned TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week honors for the second week in a row following his two goals and an assist in UCI’s home match against UC Riverside. He was named TopDrawerSoccer Men’s College Player of the Week as well as being named to their Team of the Week, the Soccer America Team of the Week, the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and Big West Player of the Week following a seven point week at New Mexico and Cal State Northridge.
He was named to Soccer America’s Preseason All-America second team heading into the 2009 season. Garcia had scored at least a point in eight straight matches earlier this year going back to the 2008 season. Garcia was named one of the 2009 Players to Watch in the Big West by Goal.com.
FREIGHT TRAIN GETS ROLLING: Junior Spencer “Freight Train” Thompson (Ahwatukee, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Men’s College Team of the Week earlier this season following a three point performance against Sacramento State. He now has five goals and four assists on the year.
WALKER’S FAST START: Amani Walker started the 2009 season where he left off in 2008. Walker’s five goals this season have earned him national attention. He was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week as well as the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week and Big West Player of the Week for the opening week of the season.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS ADD UP: UCI played in three in-season tournaments this season, earning multiple honors. UCI won the UCI College Classic and took third at both the Marquette Invitational and the Nike Aztec Soccer Classic. Irving Garcia was named to the All-Tournament team in all three tournaments. Juniors Corey Attaway (Chino HS), Spencer Thompson and Amani Walker each were named to two All-Tournament teams. Senior Carlos Aguilar, Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) and freshman Jonathan Prieto (La Habra HS) each picked up one honor.
IN THE RANKINGS: The ‘Eaters are ranked 19th in the current Soccer America poll and 22nd in the current College Soccer News poll. The team is ranked 22nd in the most recent NSCAA/adidas poll. UCI has been ranked has high as eighth nationally in the Soccer America poll, 13th in the College Soccer News poll, ninth in the NSCAA/adidas poll and 11th in the SoccerTimes poll. UCI is currently ranked third in the Far West region by the NSCAA/adidas regional poll.
ANTEATER LEADERS: Irving Garcia leads the team with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists. Spencer Thompson and Amani Walker are tied for second with 14 points. Carlos Aguilar is fourth with 12 points. Keeper Andrew Fontein has 26 saves, a 0.96 goals against average, an assist and four shutouts on the year. Victor Chinchilla has 24 saves, a 1.10 goals against average and one shutout.
ANTEATER RECORD BOOK: Spencer Thompson is seventh all-time at UCI with six career game-winners. Thompson is tied for 10th all-time with 17 career goals and is 10th all-time in total points with 45. Irving Garcia is tied for seventh in game-winners with six, ninth in assists with 16 and is 11th with 44 points and is 16th with 14 career goals. Amani Walker is 17th with 13 career goals and is tied for 18th with 34 career points.
Andrew Fontein is 10th in saves with 99 in his career and is tied for fifth with nine shutouts. His 1.00 goals against average has him in second place currently on the career list.
FOLLOW THE ‘EATERS WITH GAMETRACKER: Fans are now able to follow all UCI home soccer matches on the internet with Gametracker. By clicking on the Gametracker link on the UCI schedule page, fans will be able to follow the action at Anteater Stadium over the internet. Many UCI road matches will also feature Gametracker, check the UCI schedule page for availability.
UCI’S COACHING STAFF The Anteaters are led by head coach George Kuntz who is in his 15th year at the UCI helm. Kuntz was named NSCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year in 2008 for the second time in the past three years. Additionally, he has been the Big West Coach of the Year in two of the past three years.
Assistant coach Chris Volk is in his 13th season at UCI as coach Kuntz’s lead assistant. In 2008, Volk was named the NSCAA/adidas West Region Assistant Coach of the Year.
2009 Stats
Player Goals Assists Points GWG
Irving Garcia 7 7 21 4
Amani Walker 6 2 14 2
Spencer Thompson 5 4 14 2
Carlos Aguilar 3 6 12 0
Jonathan Prieto 3 1 7 0
Kevin Santora 2 3 7 2
Corey Attaway 1 1 3 0
Zach Olow 1 0 2 1
Jorge Reyes 0 1 1 0
Joel Bagby 0 1 1 0
Gray Bailey 0 1 1 0
Andrew Fontein 0 1 1 0
Goalkeeper Min. Svs GA GAA SHO
Andrew Fontein 751 26 8 0.96 4
Victor Chinchilla 652 24 8 1.10 1
