SET PIECES
5th -In 2023, UC Irvine won its 5th Big West Championship title and first since 2013 winning in the PK shootout ninth round
7th -UC Irvine reached the NCAA Tournament for the 7th time, second under coach Raz and all program trips made since 2008
THROW-INS
#1 -Mario Anaya remains from coach Raz's #1-ranked recruiting class of 2019 with 7 of those class members gone on to play pro
3 -The 'Eaters see 3 opponents among the preseason rankings. UCI was 1-1-1 against ranked foes in the 2023 regular season
COUNTER ATTACKS
1st -UC Irvine was picked 1st in the Preseason Big West Coaches' Poll with All-Big West honorees Winum, Montanile, and Pruter
9 -In UC Irvine's 9 2023 wins, they had 9 different game-winning goal scorers including an own goal against CSF
·The Anteaters took home their fifth Big West Championship last season and reached the NCAA Tournament for a seventh time falling in the opening round to LMU. This was the second berth under head coach Yossi Raz and his first Big West Championship in his sixth season.
·The Big West unveiled their Big West Preseason Coaches' Poll and Team with the Anteaters selected to finish first. Most recently, the 'Eaters shared preseason first in the 2022 poll, and were picked to win the South Division back in 2015. UCI scored four first-place votes with three each to second place Cal State Fullerton and third place UC Santa Barbara
·The preseason team features three Anteaters, the senior trio of Luke Pruter, Mathias Winum, and Francesco Montanile who was honored for a second time. They were joined by trios from Cal State Fullerton and UC Santa Barbara
·The 'Eaters return some experience and firepower from 2023. Pruter in goal and Winum on defense are 2 of the 3 All-Far West Region honorees UCI claimed last season. Winum was also All-Big West First Team while Winum was Second Team with sixth-year returner Mario Anaya. Anaya along with junior Agaton Pourshahidi return as Academic All-District representatives. Star freshman Brady Treinen also returns after his All-Freshman Team accolades and Big West Freshman of the Week honor he brought home.
·The 2024 Anteater schedule is a grind to start out with three ranked opponents in the first four matches with No. 4 Oregon State and No. 19 UCF on the road, No. 14 Vermont in the home opener, and UCI took on No. 11 LMU in their final tune-up exhibition
·UC Irvine and Oregon State are back on the pitch for the first time since 2016, a 1-0 Anteater win. This will be coach Raz's first time facing the Beavers. The last two meetings have been in Corvallis where UCI is 1-2-1 all-time, but lead the overall series, 4-3-1, with two neutral site contests
·UCI broke through in 2023 winning its first season opener under coach Raz in his sixth try. All-time, UCI is 22-12-5 in openers, and will start on the road for just the second time in the last nine seasons.
·The Beavers are coming off a monumental 2023 run to the College Cup. They opened with a win over Seattle U before road victories at Portland, SMU, and North Carolina before falling to Notre Dame to go 11-6-5. They begin 2024 No. 4, its highest preseason ranking, and begins life in the West Coast Conference where they're selected to finish first. Four Beavers made the Preseason All-WCC - Fran Cortijo, Arnau Farnos, Ellis Spikner, and Dante Williams - who scored 17 goals between them as they lose 15-goal scorer Logan Farrington and have a whole new stable of goalkeepers
·New rules have been instituted for the 2024 season and especially on the men's soccer side. Notably, the last 15 minutes will be treated differently. Previously, any sub including a winning team in the final five minutes meant the clock would stop. That now includes the final 15 minutes of the second half, and will be in play for any sub during a tie game
·Teams now also have six windows to sub a player through the entire match. Including those substitution windows, there will be no reentry of a player except for during halftime. In prior years, a player could be subbed off in the second half and return once.
·UC Irvine is represented internationally with upperclassmen from Norway, Sweden, and Germany as their home countries, and newcomers arriving from Netherlands and Korea Republic. Samuel Atiye grew up in Germany but his family is Togolese and he will visit the country often. Senior keeper Luke Pruter was born in Kilkenny, Ireland and has dual citizenship with Ireland and the U.S.
·The squad benefitted from four-year transfers last year of Isaiah Quarcoo (Tulsa) and the departed Christian Gomez (Cal) and Mauricio Gutierrez (UCLA). The 2024 Anteaters bring in more college experience:
ÞAbraham Brown grew up nearby before spending his first two season at the University of Pittsburgh. After playing just two matches so far, he's ready to inject his talent into the Anteater backline
ÞAnother defensive star joins the 'Eaters in Travis Babineau who played the part the last two years at Cal State San Bernardino. The 5-8 LA Galaxy Academy product brings more experience an attack to the UCI backline
ÞA transfer duo joins the four-year defenders with a prolific scorer from the junior college level, Misael Gonzalez (Fullerton College), as well as NAIA star and Netherlands-native Danny de Lorijn (Life University) ready to give a boost to the team's attack
·Of the 18 'Eaters that have declared, nine different majors are represented with the most common being nine in Sociology. Other fields UCI men's soccer players are studying toward are two in business economics, and single students taking computer science, English, economics, business administration, earth system science, and a graduate program in project management.
·Career stat leaders entering the 2024 season fall between senior Francesco Montanile and his 10 assists and 20 points and junior Agaton Pourshahidi whose scored six goals. Montanile has five goals across his career, and is tied with Pourshahidi who have each scored two game-winners
·Luke Pruter holds a majority of the stats for keepers with 45 career matches under his belt amassing 16 wins, six draws, and 12 clean sheets. He's totaled 143 saves ranking 10th all-time in UCI history, and ranks in the top 10 in matches (7th), wins (7th), and shutouts (6th).
·Entering the 2019 season, coach Raz's recruiting class was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer. From that class, seven players have played professionally with six currently in action - Roberto Molina at Miami FC, Jorge Hernandez with San Antonio FC, Ricardo Ibarra for Town FC, Oscar Cervantes and Rafael Espinoza with Irvine Zeta FC, and Eddy Berumen at LAFC II and recent callups to LAFC of the MLS- and one still on the roster with Mario Anaya back for a sixth collegiate season
·Head Coach Yossi Raz is in his eighth year with the program and seventh of competition (2020 season was canceled). Raz is 49-48-22 in his six seasons at the helm. His teams have won two Big West regular-season titles (2018, 2021), a Big West Championship in 2023, and made trips to the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and 2023.
·UC Irvine men's soccer begins its 40th season. All-time, UCI is now 22-12-5 in its season opener and will start the season at home for the second time in the coach Raz's six seasons.
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