Uc Riverside

IRVINE - Even the beautiful game can be skewed in the eye of the beholder, with few as discerning as the ones holding the clipboard. So as the UC Irvine men's soccer team was piling on visiting Long Island University Brooklyn in a lopsided 2-0 victory to open the UCI Invitational Friday night, Anteaters Coach George Kuntz was compiling a list of areas in which his team needs to improve. The need for improvement may be less obvious to the rest of the onlookers Friday, who saw the No. 13-ranked hosts produce a 24-3 advantage in shots to improve to 2-0. Junior Gor Kirakosyan scored both UCI goals, in the 19th minute, then in the 51st.

The UC Irvine men's soccer team was picked to win the Big West Conference South Division in the conference preseason poll released Thursday. Coach George Kuntz's Anteaters, who have made NCAA Tournament appearances three of the last four seasons, received six of eight first-place votes and totaled 29 points in the four-team division. Cal State Northridge (23 points), UC Riverside (15) and Cal State Fullerton (13) round out the expected order of finish, respectively. Fullerton and Northridge received one first-place vote each.

UC Irvine senior Crosby Slaught, who allowed one hit in seven shutout innings on Saturday in a 2-0 win over UC Riverside, has been named Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week. The right-hander struck out four and faced three over the minimum in a season-long outing. Slaught combined with Race Parmenter for the Anteaters' fifth shutout of the season. Slaught is 5-4 in 2012 and has 21 career victories at UCI. - From staff reports

IRVINE - In a season that may end up less than the norm, a sense of normalcy has surfaced at least to start the last three weekend series for the UC Irvine baseball team. Sophomore right-hander Andrew Thurman has become nothing less than dominant on the mound to help the Anteaters extend their run of victories in Big West series openers to 28 of their last 29, dating back to 2009. Visiting UC Riverside was the latest victim, falling, 9-2, in front of 483 at Anteater Ballpark on Friday.

UC Irvine was picked to finish second behind defending champion Cal State Fullerton in the Big West Conference preseason coaches poll announced Tuesday. The Anteaters, coming off a 43-18 season in which they finished second in conference and advanced to an NCAA Super Regional, received 70 points and three first-place votes. Cal State Fullerton collected 76 points and six first-place votes. Long Beach State (58 points), Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (54), UC Riverside (44), UC Santa Barbara (37)

IRVINE - The UC Irvine men's soccer team, with two surprising NCAA Tournament snubs in the previous four seasons, made a clear statement as to its viability as a veritable lock to make this year's 48-team NCAA field on Wednesday. Or was it an opening remark? The host Anteaters, who repeated as Big West Conference regular-season champions to earn the No. 1 seed in the four-team conference tournament, scored 35 seconds into the Big West Tournament semifinal against No. 4-seeded UC Riverside.

IRVINE — Senior forward Lexi Kopf had three goals to lead the UC Irvine women's soccer team to a 5-0 Big West Conference victory over visiting UC Riverside on Sunday that clinched UCI's second straight conference regular-season title. The No. 24-ranked Anteaters (13-3-2, 6-1-1 in conference) are the No. 1 seed in the four-team Big West tournament that opens Thursday. They play No. 4-seeded UC Davis in a semifinal at 7 p.m. at UCI. Natalia Ledezma had a goal and two assists for UCI, which also received a goal from Sarah Devine.

IRVINE - Even in a sport known as "the beautiful game," there is no allowance for style points. In fact, where it needed them most, there were no points at all for the host UC Irvine men's soccer team, which twice lost leads before losing a Big West Conference match, 3-2, to UC Riverside. The No. 9-ranked Anteaters were the most aesthetic and offensive team on the pitch in its final regular-season home game of the season. UCI posted a 20-8 advantage in shots over the Highlanders.

  MEN'S WATER POLO   UC Irvine 10, Pacific 9 STOCKTON - Freshman Jacob Mourer scored three goals to pace the No. 8-ranked Anteaters in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest against the No. 7-ranked Tigers on Saturday. Michael Bailey had seven saves, while Trent Baxter and Mitch Wise scored twice for visiting UCI (13-8, 1-3 in conference). UOP, which rallied from a 7-5 deficit to take an 8-7 lead, fell to 9-8, 0-3. Mourer goals tied it at 8 and gave UCI a 9-8 lead that became a two-goal cushion when Baxter scored with 6:00 left.

RIVERSIDE — UC Irvine's seven-game winning streak was halted Sunday when UC Riverside rallied for two runs in the eighth inning to claim a 2-1 triumph and deliver a blow to the Anteaters' Big West Conference baseball title hopes. UCI (37-14, 15-6 in conference) fell two games behind Cal State Fullerton with three games to play. The Anteaters, who are ranked No. 24 by Baseball America, have wrapped up at least a share of second place and can claim second outright with one victory in the three-game weekend series with visiting Long Beach State.