IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 10 UCI treated the home crowd to an all-around triumph of No. 7 Pacific, 17-10, in the season's first match at Anteater Aquatics Complex Saturday afternoon.

UC Irvine (13-6, 1-2 MPSF) ran away with the opening period led by Kyle Trush netting a pair of goals in the opening minutes en route a 5-0 first quarter for the Anteaters.

Pacific (12-7, 0-2 MPSF) broke the shutout early in the second period, but the Anteater defense rolled on with multiple field blocks and steals to take an 11-2 lead into the half.

The Tigers rallied back with five third-quarter goals and chopped the deficit down to six, but Dylan Peterson was on his game stopping 13 shots in the match and slowing the Tiger rally to lift UCI to its first MPSF win on the season, 17-10.

"Peterson was strong in the cage, especially in the first half," Head Coach Marc Hunt praised. "Our defense created turnovers that we turned into goals immediately. We saw a continuity to our offense that has been lacking up to this point. 

The 'Eaters did come together as 10 different Anteaters found the back of the net led by Lovre Milos who scored in every quarter on the afternoon. Trush, Ryan Warde, and Pablo Carballo had two-goal matches to complement Milos' five-goal match.

The win was a great sign for Coach Hunt's program as it hits the heart of its schedule. "This team is still in the infancy stage of development. Today's win was an important step forward."

Pacific had a five-goal scorer of their own in Krisztian Laczkovics. Brady Moore and Chris Hughes split time in the cage stopping seven shots between the two.

UCI concludes its weekend with the annual Alumni Match on Sunday, Oct. 19, before heading to its next MPSF match, Saturday, Oct. 25, at Long Beach State.

	1	2	3	4	F
PAC	0	2	5	3	10
UCI	5	6	2	4	17

PAC goals: Krisztian Laczkovics (5), Sean Grady, Tim Reeves, Devon Thumwood, Ikko Saito, Kale Ai

Saves: Dylan Peterson (UCI) – 13, Byron Rivers (UCI) - 2; Brady Moore (PAC) – 4, Chris Hughes (PAC) – 3