Anteaters can’t hold lead

QUEENS, N.Y. — The No. 14-seeded UC Irvine men’s soccer team ended its best season with a 3-2 loss at St. John’s in the third round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament Saturday.

The Anteaters opened the scoring in the 14th minute, but the No. 3-seeded Red Storm rallied for three goals, before UCI added a late goal to narrow the final margin.

Sophomore forward Amani Walker scored on an assist from Irving Garcia to give UCI its only lead.

Garcia scored on an assist from Walker in the 85th minute, nearly five minutes after the hosts upped their lead to 3-1.

UCI, ranked No. 7 by the national coaches assn. finishes a historic season that included the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance and win, its first Big West Conference regular-season and conference tournament titles, with a 15-2-6 record. The 15 wins is a school record.

— From staff reports