SAN DIEGO, Calif.  - The No. 12 UC Irvine men's soccer team (5-0) defeated Air Force 5-0 Sunday afternoon in the Courtyard Marriott San Diego Central Tournament at the SDSU Sports Deck.


The ‘Eaters got on the board in the 10th minute as senior Spencer Thompson (Ahwatukee, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) stole the ball from a defender, beat him and tucked the ball into the right corner for a 1-0 UCI lead. Thompson made it 2-0 in the 17th minute as he took a cross from senior Amani Walker (San Diego/Francis Parker HS) and hit it off the keeper into the left corner. Thompson completed his first career hat trick as he dribbled down the left side and found the lower right side of the net in the 58th minute to put UCI up 3-0. Junior Brett Berman (Westlake/Westlake Village HS) followed up a cleared corner kick by the Falcons with a shot from 22 yards to put the Anteaters up 4-0 in the 73rd minute. Junior Norby Rodriguez (Thousand Oaks HS) took a shot that rebounded to senior Zlatan Kuckovic (Bosanski, Novi, Bosnia/Sacramento State) with Kuckovic finding the right corner of the net from 20 yards out to make it 5-0.


Junior goalkeeper Andrew Fontein (Las Vegas, Nev./Sierra Vista HS) had four saves while picking up his fifth shutout of the season. Keeper Matt Underwood had four saves for the Falcons.

This is the largest margin of victory for UCI since 2001 when UCI beat Cal State Fullerton 7-2. Thompson’s three goals ties the UCI record held by 12 other players, the most recent being Walker in 2009 at Cal State Fullerton. Fontein is now tied for the UCI career record with 14 career shutouts.


The ‘Eaters will head to Sacramento next Sunday to take on Sacramento State in non-conference play at 1:00 p.m. at Hornet Soccer Field.