No. 20 Anteaters at UC Riverside; Host Cal State Northridge
Nov. 2, 2009
NO. 20 ANTEATERS AT UC RIVERSIDE; HOST CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE: The No. 20 UC Irvine men’s soccer team (12-5, 5-3) will travel to Riverside Wednesday to face UC Riverside at 7:00 p.m. at UCR Soccer Field. The team will then return home to play it’s final regular season match Saturday as they host Cal State Northridge at 7:00 p.m. at Anteater Stadium.
With one week left in the regular season, UCI is currently in third place in the Big West with 15 points. UCSB leads with 21 points and Cal Poly is second with 18 points. Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and UC Davis are tied for fourth with 10 points each.
The ‘Eaters have secured a place in next week’s Big West Tournament; due to UC Davis having only one match remaining and Fullerton and Northridge playing one another. If UCI wins both matches this week they are guaranteed to be the No. 2 seed in the tournament.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: The Highlanders are 1-14-1 overall and 0-7-1 in Big West play. Joel Garcia leads the team with seven points. Keeper Cody Suppe has a 1.76 goals against average on the year. UCI beat UCR 4-2 in the first match between the teams in October.
The Matadors are 8-7-2 overall and 3-4-1 in Big West play. CSUN plays Cal State Fullerton Wednesday before meeting UCI. Cameron Sims leads Northridge with 13 points. Keeper Michael Abalos has a 1.37 goals against average and three shutouts. UCI won the first meeting between the teams 3-0 earlier this year.
WEEK IN REVIEW: The ‘Eaters went 1-1 on the week with a 4-1 win at Cal State Fullerton and a 1-0 double overtime loss to No. 4 UC Santa Barbara. Junior Amani Walker (San Diego/Francis Parker HS) tied the UCI single-match record for points (7) and goals (3) in the win against the Titans. Senior Kevin Santora (Los Altos/Belleramine College Prep), had a goal and an assist in the win as well. Junior goalkeeper Victor Chinchilla (Palmdale/Taft College) had 11 saves on the week. Walker earned Big West Player of the Week honors following his performance at Fullerton.
AGUILAR STEPS UP: Senior Carlos Aguilar (Palmdale/Taft College) 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 HEATS UP: Amani Walker started the 2009 season where he left off in 2008. Walker’s nine 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. He has twice been named Big West Player of the Week this season. His three goals and one assist performance at Cal State Fullerton tied the UCI single match record for goals and points (7).
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 20th in the current College Soccer News poll. The team is ranked 19th in the most recent NSCAA/adidas poll and 21st in the most recent SoccerTimes 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 fourth in the Far West region by the NSCAA/adidas regional poll.
ANTEATER LEADERS: Irving Garcia leads the team with 22 points on seven goals and eight assists. Amani Walker is second with 21 points with nine goals and three assists. Spencer Thompson is third 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 35 saves, a 1.108 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 tied 10th all-time in total points with 45. Irving Garcia is tied for seventh in game-winners with six, tied for eighth in assists with 17 and is tied for 10th with 45 points and is 16th with 14 career goals. Amani Walker is tied for 13th with 16 career goals, is tied for 13th with 41 career points and is tied for 12th with four game-winners.
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 8 22 4
Amani Walker 9 3 21 3
Spencer Thompson 5 4 14 2
Carlos Aguilar 3 6 12 0
Kevin Santora 3 4 10 2
Jonathan Prieto 3 1 7 0
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
Jimmy Turner 0 1 1 0
Everett Pitts 0 1 1 0
Andrew Fontein 0 1 1 0
Goalkeeper Min. Svs GA GAA SHO
Victor Chinchilla 835 35 10 1.08 1
Andrew Fontein 751 26 8 0.96 4
Elmer Avelar 9 1 0 0.00 0
