IRVINE, Calif. --- Fifth-ranked UC Irvine used a big fourth quarter to defeat No. 11 UC San Diego, 15-11, in a non-conference game on Senior Night at Anteater Pool Wednesday evening.
UCI outscored the Tritons, 6-3, in the final period and it was appropriate that five of the 'Eaters' goals were recorded by seniors.
UCI held a 9-8 lead after three quarters as UC San Diego battled back from a three-goal deficit twice in the third.
Anteater senior Max Parrague scored back-to-back goals at 7:13 and 6:01 in the fourth to put the 'Eaters up 11-8.
Sam Figueroa, another senior, notched a power-play goal at 5:00 and sophomore Mitch Wise added a goal at 3:38 for a 13-8 margin.
UCSD's Graham Saber scored at 2:21 to cut the UCI lead to 13-9, but senior Derrik Jarvis' goal at 1:55 put the 'Eaters back up by five at 14-9.
Lukas Syka of the Tritons scored with 1:55 remaining to pull UCSD within 14-10 before Parrague completed his fourth-quarter hat trick with 15 ticks left for a 15-10 margin. The Tritons' Donohoe scored an extra-man goal with five seconds remaining for the final score.
Parrague, Figueroa and Wise led UCI with three goals each while Nick Pfeil scored two. Seniors Trent Baxter and Derrik Jarvis, in their final home appearance, scored one apiece.
Butler led the Tritons (14-9) with three goals.
UCI, 15-10 overall, travels to UC Santa Barbara Saturday at noon in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest and the 'Eaters' regular-season finale. UCI and UCSB are tied for fifth in this week's Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll.
UC San Diego 2 – 3 – 3 – 3 --- 11
UC Irvine 3 – 4 – 2 – 6 --- 15
UCSD: John Butler 3, Matt Michalko 2, Lukas Syka 2, Brian Donohoe 2, Graham Saber 2.
UCI: Sam Figueroa 3, Mitch Wise 3, Max Parrague 3, Nick Pfeil 2, Blake Terry, Winston Newland, Trent Baxter, Derrik Jarvis.
Saves: David Morton (UCSD) 6; Jimmy Friedrich (UCI) 2, Michael Bailey (UCI) 2.
______________________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.