IRVINE, Calif. – The UC Irvine men's water polo team announced the 2017 schedule, which includes exciting giveaways throughout the season and hosting the Golden Coast Conference Championships in November.

The fan experience at home games will be bolstered by four premier promotional giveaways to the first 200 fans, beginning with a UCI hoodie on Sept. 30 against UCLA. A beanie (Oct. 6), a long sleeve shirt (Nov. 3) and a snapback hat (Nov.8) will also be featured. Food will also be given to the first 200 fans in attendance at all games, except the Nov. 8 contest. All giveaways were made possible by the generous donation of a UCI booster.
 

All UCI home games are complimentary, but fans are required to register online to be eligible for the promotional items. Items will be distributed on a first-come-first-serve basis to those who have pre-registered. Pre-registration does not guarantee fans an item. Fans may register for upcoming games HERE. 

The Anteaters will participate in three early season tournaments, starting with the Triton Invitational (Set. 2-3) in La Jolla, the Conference Challenge Cup (Sept. 9) in Malibu, and the MPSF Invitational at USC (Sept. 22-24).

The UCI roster boosts of eight seniors, including five returning All-Americans.  Seven players return after redshirting in 2016, making the first three tournaments of the year instrumental in getting players experience in the pool together.

"We are adding a couple key new players to our veteran squad, and we need to develop our chemistry," head coach Marc Hunt said. "These tournament games will be a good test, with our goal to be playing our best water polo in November."

The Anteaters entertain Concordia in the home opener Sept. 15 before traveling to Cal Baptist (Sept. 20) and the MPSF Invitational.

Home contests against UCLA (Sept. 30) and San Jose State (Oct.6) bookend the annual Alumni game on Oct. 1.

After spending the next four games on the road, UCI closes out the regular season with four home games against Stanford (Oct. 29), Pepperdine (Nov.3), UC San Diego (Nov. 8) and Long Beach State (Nov. 10).

The Anteater Aquatic Center will host the Golden Coast Conference Tournament Nov. 17-19. UCI joins Pacific, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, San Jose State, and UC Santa Barbara in the quest for a championship title and the conference's first automatic bid to the NCAA Championships (Dec.2-3) hosted by USC at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

"It will be great to play for the championship at home," Hunt said. "All of the Golden Coast Conference schools have geared up for this year's opportunity to qualify to the NCAAs,  which makes it a very exciting event."

Fans can also download the team's schedule directly to their personal calendar HERE or by using the link below: