UC Irvine vs. UC Santa Barbara

When: Tonight, 7.

Where: UCI’s Anteaters Stadium

Breakdown: The top-seeded Anteaters (13-1-6), ranked No. 8 by the national coaches assn. and No. 1 in the Far West Region, can clinch the men’s soccer program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament with a victory in the title game of the Big West Conference Tournament ... No. 2-seeded UCSB (10-5-4), ranked No. 20, handed UCI its only loss, a 2-1 verdict at UCI on Oct. 4 ... UCI avenged that with a 3-1 win in Santa Barbara on Nov. 1 ... UCSB is a solid bet to make the 64-team NCAA field for the seventh straight year. The Gauchos won the NCAA title in 2006 ... The two teams’ scoring leaders, UCI’s Matt Murphy (11 goals, seven assists) and UCSB’s Chris Pontius (13 goals, four assists), both seniors, were rivals in high school as well at Mater Dei and Servite, respectively ... Murphy is UCI’s all-time leader in goals (33), points (84) and game-winning goals (11) ... UCI sophomore forward Spencer Thompson has eight goals and four assists this season and junior Irving Garcia has three goals and eight assists ... Garcia scored the game-winner in a 1-0 tournament semifinal win over UC Davis at home Wednesday.

— Barry Faulkner