‘Eaters lock up berth

IRVINE — When UC Irvine Coach George Kuntz looked out upon the postgame scene at Anteater Stadium Saturday night, he saw students and Anteater fans running past security personnel and ignoring the increased law-enforcement presence there to keep order among the spirited crowd of 1,832.

And one word came to mind.

“Justice,” said Kuntz, in his 14th season, made even more historic and sweet by his team’s 4-2 thumping of two-time defending Big West Conference champion UC Santa Barbara in the title match of the inaugural conference tournament.

The victory accentuated the No. 8-ranked Anteaters’ regular-season conference championship, ratified their No. 1 ranking in the Far West Region, and guaranteed the program’s first trip to the NCAA Tournament, for which pairings will be announced Monday.

It’s when and where, not if, that the Anteaters (15-1-6) will learn from Monday’s afternoon announcement.

The NCAA berth was the justice Kuntz was referring to, recalling a bitter at-large snub by the NCAA selection committee after a stellar 2006 campaign, from which the veteran coach has, obviously, still not recovered.

“What happened two years ago was one of the most difficult situations I’ve ever had to deal with as a professional, in 20 years of college coaching,” said Kuntz, from whom ice water, courtesy of a celebratory postgame dumping by players, and emotion dripped in equal portion. “People have asked me ‘When are you going to get there? When will you do it?’. It was a barrier we had yet to break.”

Just about everything broke right for the hosts Saturday, as they needed fewer than 40 minutes to match their season-high scoring output to all but clinch victory.

But, as sophomore forward Amani Walker, whose one assist and two goals were clearly the most productive game of his young career, said, the Anteaters are no longer waiting for others to make breaks for them.

“We made it our choice to get into [the tournament],” said Walker, who subbed for injured sophomore forward Spencer Thomspon (eight goals and five assists in 2008). Thompson sat out with a sprained ankle that sidelined him for all but a cameo appearance in the two-game conference tournament. “We didn’t want to have to wait for the committee to give us a berth.”

Walker, who came in with two goals and one assist for the season, helped initiate the scoring against the No. 20-ranked Gauchos (10-7-5), pushing a soft rolling pass away from a defender and onto the foot of a wide-open Rafael Macedo. Macedo, a senior, blasted it past the goalkeeper with nine minutes, 50 seconds elapsed.

Walker finished the second goal, thrusting his tuft of dreadlocks at a Gray Bailey throw-in to produce a leaping header that beat goalie Kristopher Minton from close range in the 17th minute.

Not quite 10 minutes later, Walker bent a cross around the last Gaucho defender to intersect with another Macedo run. Macedo, who assisted teammate Irving Garcia’s game-winning goal in a 1-0 semifinal triumph over No. 15-ranked UC Davis Wednesday, finished again to make it 3-0 and incite a roar of supremacy from a UCI crowd that had been taking some hits from the spirited, more unified and experienced UCSB student section that made the two-hour commute from the Central Coast.

UCI finished a dominant first half with what Kuntz called the most beautiful goal of the night in the 40th minute.

The play happened suddenly as junior Carlos Aguilar launched a 40-yard aerial toward the far post, where a charging junior Irving Garcia headed it into the net.

“[Aguilar] picked out [Garcia],” Kuntz said. “It was a pin-point pass and Garcia put great touch on the header.”

The UCI defense, anchored by tournament MVP Andrew Fontein, a freshman keeper who made nine saves, did the rest.

Senior center defenders David Sias and Kyle Schmid were Fontein’s most trusted allies, repeatedly blowing up scoring chances. Senior Shane Westbook and sophomore Corey Attaway also earned distinction on the back line.

UCSB, which most believe will make its seventh straight NCAA Tournament appearance, averted a shutout by converting a pair of penalty kicks in the final 19 minutes.

UCI could earn one of 16 first-round byes and a second-round home match in the NCAA Tournament that begins Friday and Saturday.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.