STOCKTON, Calif. --- Seventh-ranked UC Irvine never trailed in the game until No. 5 Pacific scored three goals in the final 3:35 to pull out an 11-10 victory in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game at Stockton Saturday.
Matt Skinner's second goal of the day put the 'Eaters up 10-8 with 7:19 left in the fourth quarter before the Tigers mounted their rally.
Alex Obert's goal with 3:35 remaining cut the deficit to 10-9 and Aleksandar Petrovic tied the game at 10-10 on a score with 1:32 left.
Pacific's Ben Stevenson netted his fourth goal of the game with 41 seconds remaining proved to be the difference.
A shot by UCI's Lovre Milos was saved with 15 seconds left and Pacific ran out the clock.
The 'Eaters jumped out to a 3-1 lead early and led 3-2 after one quarter.
Ryan Warde's goal with 1:50 left in the second quarter put UCI up 7-5 before a late Pacific score narrowed the gap to one at halftime.
The teams traded goals in the third period as the 'Eaters carried a 9-8 margin into the fourth quarter.
In addition to Skinner's two goals, Kyle Trush and Larson Pfeil also scored a pair each. Senior goalie Dylan Peterson had 17 saves for the 'Eaters (11-5, 1-1 MPSF).
Obert added three goals for the Tigers (15-2, 2-0).
UCI faces No. 3 California in an MPSF game Sunday at noon in Berkeley.
UC Irvine 3-4-2-1 --- 10
Pacific 2-4-2-3 --- 11
UCI: Kyle Trush, 2, Larson Pfeil 2, Matt Skinner 2, Lovre Milos, Ryan Warde, Chris Swieca, Jared Osborn.
Pac: Ben Stevenson 4, Alex Obert 3, Aleksandar Petrovic 2, Devon Thumwood 2.
Saves: Dylan Peterson (UCI) 17; Brady Moore (Pac) 13.
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