IRVINE, Calif. – Casey Lynton had a hat trick as the No. 12 UC Irvine men's water polo team dropped its Golden Coast Conference opener to No. 6 Pepperdine, 14-10, Friday at Anteater Aquatics Complex.
 
The Anteaters move to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in the GCC while the Waves improve to 16-5 on the season and 1-0 in conference.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Lynton's three goals were a team-high
> Jason Evezard finished with two goals
> Bryant Joudrie tallied one goals and four assists while Daniel Norman, Zlatan Nikocevic, Carson Arnett and Chad Gornay each had one
> Collin Winters played three quarters in goal and finished with eight saves and two steals while Chandler Mankins saw action in the third quarter, grabbing three saves
> Pepperdine held a 34-30 advantage in shots
> UCI was 5-of-8 on powerplays while the Waves went 6-9
> Pepperdine's Marko Asic and Balazs Kosa each had four goals
 
TURNING POINTS
Quarter One
> UCI jumped out to a 3-2 lead after the first quarter
> Norman put the 'Eaters up 1-0 at 6:54 before Arnett scored on a powerplay to make it 2-0
> The Waves tallied back-to-back goals
> With 23 seconds left, Arnett found Lynton who fired in a goal to make it 3-2
 
Quarter Two
> Evezard opened up the frame with a goal at 6:23 to put the 'Eaters up 4-2
> The teams exchanged goals as UCI held a 6-4 lead at 4:28
> The Waves used a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 lead into the half
 
Quarter Three
> Pepperdine scored to open the third quarter before Nikocevic fired in goal off a pass from Evezard to make it 9-7 (4:27)
> Lynton scored on a powerplay at 3:26 but the Waves entered the fourth quarter, 11-8
 
Quarter Four
> Pepperdine outscored UCI 3-2 in the fourth quarter to seal the win
> Lynton and Joudrie each had a goal in the frame
 
UP NEXT
> UCI continues conference play with a game against San Jose State Sunday, Oct. 20 at 12 p.m.