SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The No. 23 UC Irvine men’s soccer team (5-2) defeated Princeton 2-1 Friday afternoon at the Nike Aztec Soccer Classic at the SDSU Sports Deck.

Devin Muntz took a free kick for the Tigers in the 30th minute and it was headed in by Josh Walburn to give Princeton a 1-0 lead. Freshman Jonathan Prieto (La Habra HS) tied the match up at 1-1 from 15 yards out off a through ball from senior Irving Garcia (San Luis, Ariz./Yavapai College) in the 61st minute. Junior Spencer Thompson (Ahwatukee, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) crossed a ball from the right side to senior Kevin Santora (Los Altos/Bellarmine College Prep) who finished it into the right corner to give UCI a 2-1 lead.

Sophomore keeper Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) had three saves as he earned the win. Keeper Sean Lynch had five saves for Princeton.

The ‘Eaters will open up Big West Conference play Sunday as they travel to Santa Barbara to take on No. 7 UC Santa Barbara at 6:30 p.m. at Harder Stadium.