Men’s Soccer Falls in Big West Opener

Wednesday, September 27

Irvine, Calif.

6:00 p.m.

UC Riverside

0-7-2, 0-1-0

UC Irvine

4-3-2, 1-0-0

Team	1	2	Final F
UC Riverside	0	0	0
UC Irvine	1	0	1

9/27/2023 8:15:00 PM | Men's Soccer

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside fell 1-0 to UC Irvine on Wednesday night at Anteater Stadium in both sides' Big West opener.

HOW IT HAPPENED

UC Irvine started on a strong foot with a fifth-minute opening strike to take a 1-0 lead for the night's only goal.
Wes Hastings followed up a few minutes later with a pair of attempts, one hitting the far post and the next sailing over the crossbar.
Nathan Scott tried volleying a point blank shot into the near post in the 53rd minute, but the attempt went straight into the breadbasket of Irvine's keeper.
Carlos Gonzalez stayed home on his line to gobble up a UCI free kick in the 58th minute. Gonzalez came up big once more, reading a penalty all the way for a crucial save in the 65th minute. Gonzalez hugged the near post from four yards out and crouched for yet another big time save in the 68th.
Both keepers made clutch saves in the 72nd and 73rd minutes. Brendan Clark was on the receiving end of a ball destined for the back of the net before Gonzalez put a hard stop to Irvine's counterattack on the other end.
UCR cleared a ball off the line in the 85th minute as Gonzalez again found himself in the middle of a scrum on the doorstep.
Andrew Alexander had a perfect look at net in the final minute of action, but was turned aside by UCI's goalkeeper.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS

Despite the early concession, Gonzalez was UCR's clear and obvious man of the match with a season-high eight saves on the night. The senior has now logged at least eight stops in each of his last two trips to UCI after making a career-high 11 in the 2021 Big West Semifinal.

UP NEXT

UC Riverside will bring the Big West schedule home for the first time in 2023 with a 7:00 p.m. kick against Cal Poly on Saturday, September 30 at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium on ESPN+.