No. 14 Anteaters Host No. 2 UCLA

Sunday, October 27

Irvine, Calif.

1:00 PM

UC Irvine

UCLA

No. 14 Anteaters Host No. 2 UCLA

October 25, 2019 | Men's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
No. 14 UC Irvine (6-9, 0-2) vs. No. 2 UCLA (14-1, 0-0)
Sunday, Oct. 27 | 1:00 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Center
Live Stats

The 14th ranked UC Irvine Anteaters take a break from conference action to host second-ranked UCLA Sunday, Oct. 27 at 1 p.m. at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

WEEKEND STORYLINES

UCI slipped to No. 14 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll after ranking as high as No. 9. The 'Eaters started the season ranked at No. 13
The 'Eaters dropped to 6-9 on the season after dropping two conference matches to No. 6 Pepperdine, 14-10 and No. 19 San Jose State, 8-3. UCI will look to break a six-game losing streak this weekend
UCI and No. 2 UCLA will square off for the first time this season. The Bruins are 14-1, winning five-straight games over the last two weeks. UCLA's lone loss of the season came against No. 1 Stanford
The 'Eaters dropped a 14-7 decision to the Bruins last season. UCI is 53-75-1 all-time against UCLA. The Anteaters upset top-ranked UCLA in 2017 marking their first win against the Bruins in 17 meetings
The Bruins are led in scoring by Ashworth Molthen and Jake Cavano with 26 and 22 goals, respectively. UCLA's Bernardo Maurizi and Alex Wolf have been splitting time in goal. Wolf has 78 saves on the season while Maurizi has 58
Head coach Marc Hunt earned his 200^th career win against Cal Baptist (Sept. 14)
Junior Jason Evezard set a new single-game school record against CBU scoring nine goals

LAST WEEK

UCI dropped two conference matches to No. 6 Pepperdine and No. 19 San Jose State
Casey Lynton had a hat trick scoring three goals while Jason Evezard had two against the Waves
UCI led Pepperdine, 3-2, after the first quarter but the Waves used a 5-0 run in the second and third quarters to break open the lead and seal the 14-10 win
The Anteaters could not get things going on offense and ultimately fell 8-3 to SJSU
Jon Polos had two goals while Collin Winters hit a career-high 12 saves
The Spartans goalie made 18 stops in goal

SEASON TOP PERFORMERS

Evezard leads the Anteaters with 42 points (33 goals and nine assists) which ranks 8^th in the GCC
Bryant Joudrie has 13 goals on the season and leads the team in assists (20)
Casey Lynton leads the team with 15 steals and has 13 goals
Jon Polos has drawn a team-high 24 exclusions and has 13 goals
Ivan Mercep and Zlatan Nikocevic are also in double-figures with 12 apiece
Harrison Land has totaled 106 saves for a .488 save percentage while Collin Winters has 33 saves in six games played
UCI is averaging 9.00 goals per game while allowing opponents 11.20 goals per game

MORE ON THE ANTEATERS

UC Irvine returns three of its four leading scorers from a year ago including top-scorer and GCC Newcomer of the Year Jason Evezard (64 goals). GCC Honorable Mention selection Casey Lynton returns as the team's leader in assists (28) and steals (43). He also produced 34 goals last season. Seniors Jon Polos and Bryant Jourdie each contributed 24 and 22 goals, respectively
Other top returners include All-GCC Freshman Team honoree Zlatan Nikocevic (17 goals, 12 assists), seniors Ian Fleenor (12 goals, 13 assists), Foster Hoose (11 steals, four goals) and Sven Davidson (7 steals, three goals)
Overall, UCI returns 16 players and welcomes 9 newcomers. The 'Eaters lost 10 letter winners from a year ago
Head Coach Marc Hunt enters his 15^th season at the helm behind a 201-185 career record