The rise of UC Irvine, the hottest men's team on the West Coast, should be no surprise.
Last year, Anteaters came within one game of winning their first Big West title, and they returned eight starters, including Brad Evans, a Soccer America Preseason All-American.
The Anteaters moved up to No. 14 in this week's Soccer America Men's Top 25 with a 3-2 overtime win over Cal State Fullerton and a 1-0 victory over Cal Poly. UCI is first in the Big West with a 3-0-0 record and is unbeaten in its last seven games since losing to Northwestern, 2-1, four weeks ago.
Evans, who represented the USA at the 2005 World Youth Championship, moved into second place on the all-time UCI scoring list with his 28th career goal against Cal Poly. Sophomore Matt Murphy, senior Anthony Hamilton and Evans are on a tear in recent weeks — they've combined for 16 goals in 10 games — and have had plenty of opportunities to show off their ''Rip 'em Eaters'' salute, UCI's version of ''Hook 'em Horns.''
Evans leads a veteran team featuring seven senior starters. UCI is located in Orange County, a soccer hotbed, but Coach George Kuntz has attracted players from other parts of the country interested in playing in sunny California. Evans grew up in Phoenix and wanted to escape the 100-plus degree heat for Southern California's beaches. Senior Brandon Tario, a three-year starter, hails from Hawaii.
Three transfers joined the UCI program in 2006. Starting goalie Kenny Schoeni was raised in Cincinnati and started for two seasons at Vanderbilt before transferring to Irvine after the Commodores' men's program was dropped after last season. St. Louis product Shane Westbrook left Boston University for UCI. For the third transfer, the move to Irvine was a homecoming of sorts. Washington transfer Kyle Schmid, son of prominent coach Sigi Schmid, grew up in Torrance, 30 miles up the road from Irvine.