STOCKTON, Calif. – No. 15 UC Irvine men's water polo team fell in Golden Coast Conference action, 19-9, to third-ranked Pacific, Saturday afternoon.

UCI falls to 6-12 on the season and 0-4 in GCC play. UOP improves to 15-3 on the season and 4-0 in conference.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Casey Lynton led the 'Eaters with a hat trick, scoring three goals
> Jason Evezard contributed nine goals while Ivan Mercep, Carson Arnett, Jon Polos and Zlatan Nikocevic each had one
> Harrison Land was back in goal and tallied nine saves for a .321 save percentage
> UCI shot. 333 on the day and struggled in extra-man situations finishing 1-15. The Tigers did not fare much better in powerplay situations, finishing 1-11
> UOP was led in scoring by Bogdan Djerkovic while Jon Barry made eight stops in goal

TURNING POINTS
Quarter One
> A slow start doomed the Anteaters as they were held scoreless in the first quarter while the Tigers fired in seven goals

Quarter Two
> UCI broke through at 4:59 when Lynton scored off a pass from Bryant Joudrie
> Nikocevic followed with an Anteater goal at 4:29 as UCI would trail 12-1 at the half

Quarter Three
> Lynton got his second goal of the game at 6:35 as Nikocevic was credited with the assist
> The Waves would score twice before Arnett fired in a goal on a powerplay at 1:54

Quarter Four
> UCI would outscore UOP 5-4 in the final quarter
> Polos scored first at 7:08 followed by Evezard (5:08)
> The Tigers added three-straight goals within a minute before the 'Eaters answered with three of their own from Lynton Mercep and Evezard
>Evezard's goal came with 1:31 remaining and would cap the scoring giving UOP the 19-9 victory

UP NEXT
> UCI plays Cal tomorrow at 1 p.m. to complete its Northern California road trip

NOTES: Lynton tallied his fourth hat trick of the season