AREA ANTEATERS GO WHOLE HOG.

Byline: LEE BARNATHAN UNIVERSITY BEAT

No one accuses Stephanie Rigamat and Nicole Bucciarelli of being ball hogs. Besides, they can be forgiven if they are. The two are soccer forwards and are supposed to be a little selfish.

``When the ball comes up to us, we have to try and hold it,'' Bucciarelli said. ``When it comes to us our job is to put it in the back of the net.''

Said Rigamat: ``The more passes we give ourselves, the more passes we get back, and the more shots we get. We score a lot. It's expected.''

Rigamat, a sophomore from Crescenta Valley, leads UC Irvine with 13 goals and three assists. Bucciarelli is a senior who led Grant to consecutive City 4-A titles and earned consecutive Daily News Player of the Year awards. She has 13 goals and two assists for the Anteaters, who are 14-3-3 and finish the regular season today against Cal State Fullerton. No other UC Irvine player has more than three goals.

At stake for Irvine (5-1-1 Big West) is a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Anteaters could benefit from a larger national championship field, which was expanded from 32 to 48 teams this year.

Then UCI could unleash its two-forward attack on the rest of the country.

``They're very possessed in the 18-yard box,'' Irvine coach Marine Cano said. ``If you give them a little bit of time, they'll score on you. They both believe they'll score, and if they don't, they're miserable.''

So far, both have had their moments. For Bucciarelli, the school's career scoring leader with 124 points, her moment came Sunday against 10th-ranked San Diego State. With three players on her back, she escaped by making a quick turn and scored on a hard shot. The goal gave the Anteaters a tie and earned Bucciarelli conference Player of the Week honors.

``Bucciarelli disguises what she's doing, lulls people to sleep,'' Cano said. ``In high school, I watched her. She knew her job was to score.''

The highlight for Rigamat came Oct. 16 in a 2-0 victory over Long Beach State. UCI struggled until Rigamat scored two goals in 10 minutes, the second coming off her steal and breakaway.

``She likes to face the goal and run at players,'' Cano said.

The NCAA tournament bracket is scheduled to be released Sunday.

CSUN soccer: One women's team that won't be named on Sunday is Cal State Northridge. The Matadors improved over last year's 2-18 record, finishing 6-13 this season.

``We could've done better, but we did well,'' freshman forward Michelle French said. ``We got together more and put the skills together more than in the past.''

French knew when she came to Northridge that coach Brian Wiesner didn't recruit talent from the area. She competed at Chaminade and was one of several players from area high schools who contributed.

``The returning players said this was a big change from last year - more offense than last year,'' freshman Erin Broadwell from La Canada said.

Wiesner's contract expires Dec. 31 and it is not known if he'll return, especially after he shouted at and pushed assistant coach Allison Lee. Assistant athletic director Brian Swanson said Wiesner's annual administrative review will be in December.