UPCOMING MATCHES
NCAA Tournament (Palo Alto, Calif.)
First Round
(5) UC Irvine Anteaters vs. (4) Cal Golden Bears
Fri. May 8, 2015 / 5:15 PM
Video | Stats
Second Round
(5) UC Irvine Anteaters vs. (8) UC San Diego Tritons
Sat. May 9, 2015 / 1:45 PM
Video | Stats
Final Round
(5) UC Irvine Anteaters vs. (7) Princeton Tigers
Sun. May 10, 2015 / 1:45 PM
Video | Stats
Tournament Central | Scoreboard | Bracket | Match Notes
OPENING SPRINTS
UC Irvine earned an at-large berth to the 2015 NCAA Tournament. It's the fourth trip to the NCAAs for the 'Eaters, all coming in the last five years, and second in a row. All-time, UCI is 4-5 in NCAA Tournament matches with finishes of fourth, fifth, and sixth.
The at-large berth is the first in the Anteater program's history and first for any member of the Big West conference.
UCI captured its sixth Big West regular season title with a 4-1 record. The title was the fourth outright (2011, 2012, 2014) since the Big West's inception in 2009. All-time, the Anteaters are 32-5 in Big West regular season play.
UCI was the runner-up in the Big West Tournament. In the seven years of the tournament, UCI holds a 15-2 record winning it five times. It's two losses were both against Hawai'i in overtime of the championship match.
Hawai'i was the first host to win the tournament after winning all three matches. Prior to 2015, the host had won a total of four times in the previous 14 matches.
The program recorded win No. 250 on Sunday, Feb. 1 with a win over UC Davis. UC Irvine is 267-218 in 485 career matches. Head Coach Dan Klatt has been around for 218 of those wins. He earned No. 200 to open the season by defeating No. 7 San Jose State, 9-6.
SKIP SHOTS
Senior Danielle Warde ranks second on the team with 39 goals boosting her to fourth in UCI history with 196 career goals. She stands four goals away from joining Jessy Cardey, Robyn Kaake, and Erica Horman as the only 'Eaters with 200 goals in their career.
The team's scoring leader is junior McKenna Mitchell with 42 goals on the season. She has now reached the 40-goal mark in all three seasons. She broke into the UCI top-10 now with 130 career goals.
Freshman utility Mary Brooks came on strong over the Big West Tournament with six goals including her third four-goal match of the season against UC Davis. Brooks buried nearly 1/4 of her season total in the tournament now third on the team with 27.
Senior keeper Jillian Yocum reached the 900-save mark in the tourney. She grabbed 17 shots pushing her to 229 on the season, the third 200-save season in her career, and 910 career saves, 22 saves shy of the 'Eaters all-time leader, Lauren Machanis, who saved 932. She set a single-game high with 16 saves in a February win against UC Davis, and her nine double-digit save performances have given her 40 such games in her career.
The Anteaters as a team defense have allowed 10 goals in a game just four times this season, once to Stanford and Cal, and twice to USC, never allowing more than 11 goals in a match. All but one of UCI's eight losses have come by less than five goals including two one-goal defeats.
TOURNEY TALK
The at-large Anteaters earned the No. 5-seed in the tournament and will square off with the Cal Golden Bears for a third time this season.
This is the first season these squads have matched up three times. Their only multi-match season was in 2014. UCI and Cal have met in every water polo season except 2010, 2011, and 2013.
Cal has won 14 of the 15 career matchups between them including nine in a row. UC Irvine's lone victory came at home in 2005, a 7-6 upset victory of the No. 6 Bears by 13th-ranked UC Irvine. In that match, the 'Eaters took a 6-2 lead into the half only to hold on for the one-goal win. Robyn Kaake scored three times, and Lauren Machanis tied a program single-game record with 12 saves. UCI dropped its highest-ranked opponent in program history at the time with the win that also came in coach Klatt's first year at the helm.
The 'Eaters and Bears have actually met once in Stanford already this season. The two finished up the Stanford Invitational in February with a 9-4 Cal victory. Cal rushed out to a three-goal halftime advantage, but UCI would close the gap to two in the fourth period before Cal pulled away lead by Dora Antal's four goals. Destene Albers led UCI with a pair of goals while Yocum stopped eight shots.
The second meeting came in the UC Irvine Invitational later that month. The Anteaters hung in through one period before Cal busted out for four second-period goals and a five-goal halftime lead. UCI charged down the stretch to close a seven-goal deficit to four as the game ended a 10-6 loss. The 'Eaters spread the love with six scorers each putting one goal away, and Riley Shaw made one of her two appearances on the season making her two saves on the year.
UC Irvine has squared off with five of the eight other teams in the field in a total of nine matches. Wins have come against 6-seed Hawai'i and play-in representative UC San Diego.
The 'Eaters and Rainbow Wahine will not potentially match up until the final round. UCI won the two regular season match each at home and each by one goal. Their meeting in the UC Irvine Invitational by a final of 3-2 was the lowest scoring match in Anteater history and the lowest winning scored by an Anteater squad. Hawai'i got the better of UCI in the Big West Tournament winning 9-8 in overtime. All-time, UCI is 6-14 with five of those wins coming in the last three seasons.
UCI had a pair of wins in two meetings against UC San Diego, both coming at UCSD. Despite the Tritons holding the all-time edge with 13 wins in 23 matches, the 'Eaters have won eight straight. The 'Eaters broke away in the Triton Invite matchup winning 10-7 after the match was tied, 7-7, late in the third. The rematch in early April was even tighter. UCSD tied the match up at 7-7 once again, this time in the fourth period after trailing, 7-2. UCI got the game-winner from Destene Albers with 2:12 to go in the match to capture the 8-7 victory.
Also looming are giants USC, Stanford, and UCLA. The Trojans and Cardinal would not show up until the final round, but together have not last to the 'Eaters in 40 matchups. Stanford topped UCI, 11-3, in its own tournament to open the season. USC posted a 10-5 win in the Triton Invite final and against, 11-7, at UC Irvine in late February.
UCLA could be the 'Eaters' second round opponent. UCI has never beaten the Bruins in 19 tries. This season's encountered ended in an 8-5 UCLA win on their turf. The previous three losses all were by one goal including the 2012 NCAA Third-Place match in San Diego that the Bruins squeaked away with winning 10-9.
Princeton represents the east coast as the CWPA participant. The 'Eaters have won two of the three matchups, but they and the Tigers have not met since 2005, a 9-3 victory.
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