In UC Irvine women’s soccer’s second and final exhibition match of the 2025 season, the Anteaters took down Trinity Western 2-0 at Anteater Stadium on Aug. 11.
Irvine started the matchup against the Canadian program strongly, scoring early on at the 7:08 mark. Sophomore midfielder Milan Heisdorf kicked off the scoring for UCI, putting a goal in from the left side of the pitch. Heisdorf will look to expand her role as a consistent starter in 2025 after starting seven games last year. Senior midfielders and identical twins Mia Colombini and Ella Colombini recorded assists on the goal.
Postgame, UCI head coach Scott Juniper spoke about the expectations for Heisdorf in 2025.
“I actually said to Milan before the game, I think she’s one of our most experienced players now. She’s so comfortable and calm on the ball. [She] still [has] a long way to go, she’s a rising sophomore but I think it’s awesome when you have someone from a local Irvine high school who’s here at UCI,” Juniper told New University.
Irvine continued the first half by dominating the time of possession battle and keeping their defensive rotations tight. Throughout the remainder of the half, UCI limited the Spartans to just one shot and minimal time with the ball.
Notable for an exhibition game, Trinity Western kept their substitutions to a minimum. In the first half, head coach Graham Roxburgh did not use his bench until about the 32-minute mark of the period.
Maintaining control of the ball and limiting mistakes while playing relatively conservative on offense, UCI led 1-0 at the half. Irvine only generated two shots of their own in the first period, but the Anteater defense stood strong to maintain its lead.
UCI got an early injury scare to begin the second half when freshman forward Fiona Shin went down hard after a Trinity Western tackle. Shin was down for about a minute and walked gingerly for a few moments but was able to stay in the game.
Irvine was able to put more pressure on the Spartan defense early in the second half, generating three shots in the first 13 minutes of the half. The Anteater push was capped off by Mia Colombini putting a shot in for her first goal of the year, pushing UCI’s lead to 2-0. Sophomore defender Kamryn Taylor recorded the assist on the goal.
Mia Colombini spoke about her team’s performance postgame and noted that it was the second time in an exhibition game that she shared an assist with her twin.
“I’m just really excited to play with all these girls. And I’m excited to play with my sister as well. I think this is a really good group of people and players, and I think we have a really good chance in conference,” Mia Colombini told New University.
The UCI crowd cheered noticeably louder when senior forward Jenika Davis checked in midway through the second half. After Davis was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia just five games into her freshman season, the UCI women’s soccer program rallied around the senior to create #TeamJenika as part of the UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge. Davis played 27 minutes against the Spartans, contributing a shot on goal.
“I get chills every time she [Davis] plays. She just wants to play and be out there. She doesn’t care where she plays and whenever she’s out there, she just puts her whole heart into it,” Mia Colombini said. “We’re all just so, so proud of her, and we just are so excited for her this season.”
Shutting out Trinity Western, UCI closed out the matchup, winning 2-0 and maintaining a defensive stronghold on the game. The Spartans were only able to generate one shot in the second half and three on the night in total.
Juniper noted how much of the team is not only exceptionally young but also new to UCI in 2025; 10 of UCI’s 30 players are newcomers, with eight being first-years. Juniper, in his 18th year as head coach, offered praise to all of the newcomers along with the veteran leadership who will look to guide the new players in their first year at Anteater Stadium.
“They are a class of freshmen who are ready to play as well as any other class in the last few years, for sure. And we’ve got a lot of leadership that’s emerged,” Juniper said. “We graduated a lot of leadership in the last two years and the leadership we’ve got returning … is going to need to step up if we’re going to pull this whole thing together.”
UCI split a road trip to Arizona, going 1-1 against Grand Canyon and The University of Arizona. The Anteaters took down GCU 4-1 before dropping their match against the Wildcats 1-0. Next, UCI will come back to California for an Aug. 21 game against The University of San Diego.
Jacob Ramos is a Sports Staff Writer. He can be reached at jacobtr@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Joshua Gonzales