UC Irvine Anteaters women's soccer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| UC Irvine Anteaters women's soccer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Founded | 1984 | ||
| University | University of California, Irvine | ||
| Head coach | Scott Juniper (19th season) | ||
| Conference | Big West | ||
| Location | Irvine, California, US | ||
| Stadium | Anteater Stadium (capacity: 2,500) | ||
| Nickname | Anteaters, UCI | ||
| Colors | Blue and gold[1] | ||
| |||
| NCAA tournament Round of 16 | |||
| 2010, 2022, 2023 | |||
| NCAA tournament Round of 32 | |||
| 2010, 2021, 2022, 2023 | |||
| NCAA tournament appearances | |||
| 2010, 2011, 2021, 2022, 2023 | |||
| Conference tournament championships | |||
| 1997, 2021, 2022, 2023 | |||
| Conference regular season championships | |||
| 2010, 2011, 2017, 2021 | |||
The UC Irvine Anteaters women's soccer team represents the University of California, Irvine in NCAA Division I college soccer. UC Irvine competes in the Big West Conference. The Anteaters are coached by Scott Juniper.[2] Having coached there since 2007, Juniper has led the squad to all five of their NCAA appearances.
The UC Irvine women's soccer program started in 1984 at the NCAA Division I level, and were Independent to start. They joined the Big West Conference in 1996, once the Big West began sponsorship.[3]
UC Irvine has been Big West tournament champions four times: in 1997, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Three such wins have been over Cal Poly.
UC Irvine has been to the NCAA tournament five times. Twice as an at-large bid, and the remaining three times as automatic bids. The Anteaters have appeared in the Round of 16 three times: 2010, 2022, and 2023.
In 2023, the Anteaters won their most recent Big West Championship, and third consecutive, defeating Cal Poly 1–0.[4] They would go on to upend No. 1 seed and defending national champion UCLA 1–0 with a shot in the final minutes, only the second team in NCAA history to ever do so.[5] They would follow up with a win over Gonzaga, defeating the then No. 19 team in the country 2–1.[6] The second win marked the first time in NCAA history a team that upset a No. 1 seed made it to the Round of 16. Their run would come to an end with a loss to No. 15 Nebraska, losing 0–4.[7] The 2023 squad finished the season ranked 20th in the nation.[8]
