No. 14 UCI Plays at No. 10 SJSU, No. 4 Stanford

Saturday, October 23

San Jose, Calif.

12:30 PM

UC Irvine

San Jose State

No. 14 UCI Plays at No. 10 SJSU, No. 4 Stanford

October 22, 2021 | Men's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
No. 14 UC Irvine (7-8, 0-1) at No. 10 San Jose State (9-12, 0-2)
Saturday, Oct. 23 | 12:30 p.m. | San Jose, Calif.
Live stats

No. 14 UC Irvine (7-8, 0-2) at No. 4 Stanford (14-3, 0-1)
Sunday, Oct. 24 | 1 p.m. | Stanford, Calif.
Live stats | Live video

The No. 14 Anteaters head north for two games. UCI will play San Jose State in a GCC matchup Saturday, Oct. 23 at 12:30 p.m. followed by a non-conference game at San Jose State Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m.

STORYLINES
- UCI entered the season ranked 13^th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll and moved to No. 14 this week
- The Anteaters are 7-8 on the season and 0-1 in Golden Coast Conference play after a loss to No. 9 Pepperdine last week
- Casey Lynton leads UCI and is third in the conference in goals scored with 43. The senior also leads the GCC in total points with 71 and steals (38)
- Lynton notched 100 career goals earlier this season and currently leads the 'Eaters with 114 total goals
- Harrison Land has started 14 games in goal and has 103 saves on the season
- Zlatan Nikocevic is second on the team and fourth in the GCC with 40 goals scored
- After returning to the pool for the first time since 2019, the Anteaters opened the season 2-0 with wins against Chapman and Redlands
- Five Anteaters scored goals in their UCI debuts including Dylan Patist (6), Stewart Campbell (5), Thomas Cass (2), Archer Sauer (1), and Tyler Padua (1)
- UCI returns only 11 players from the 2019 squad as the 2021 team features 18 new Anteaters who will see action for the first time this season
- The Anteaters play eight regular season games at home as well as host the 2021 GCC Tournament in November for the first time since 2017
- UCI was ranked sixth in the GCC preseason poll
- Head coach Marc Hunt begins his 17^th season at the helm. He has amassed over 200 wins in 15 seasons and has a 204-199 (.506) overall record

WEEKEND REWIND
> UCI outscored Pepperdine 4-2 in the second half but the Waves used a 7-2 first half advantage to seal a 9-6 victory last Saturday
> Dylan Patist and Zlatan Nikocevic led the Anteaters with two goals each
> Harrison Land made six stops in goal
> UCI outshot Pepperdine, 32-25. The Waves were led by Nicholas Fichman with three goals

AGAINST THE SPARTANS
> SJSU is 9-12 on the season and 0-2 in conference play with GCC losses to No. 6 Pacific and No. 5 LBSU
> UCI is 19-6 all-time against the Spartans with its last win against SJSU coming in 2018
> SJSU is led in scoring by Bende Pardi with 35 goals while goalkeeper Yahav Fire leads the conference with 199 saves on the season

AGAINST THE CARDINAL
> Stanford ranks fourth nationally with a 14-3 overall record. The Cardinal are coming off a 13-1 win against UC Davis and an 8-6 loss to UCLA
> Stanford will host No. 3 USC before meeting the Anteaters
> UCI is looking for its first win against the Cardinal since 2007
> Stanford is led by Quinn Woodhead with 33 goals

RETURNING 'EATERS
UC Irvine returns three all-conference players from the 2019 season including second team all-conference honoree senior Casey Lynton. Lynton was second on the team in goals (26), assists (21) and steals (21). He started every game for the 'Eaters in 2019 and has tallied 60 career goals.

Sophomore Chad Gornay and sophomore goalkeeper Harrison Land, who were both name on the GCC All-Freshman Team in 2019, also return for the 'Eaters. Gornay saw action in every game and scored nine goals, dished out 10 assists and drew eight exclusions.

Land started 16 games in goal, tallying 139 saves, good for fourth in the conference as a freshman. He finished his first year campaign with a .471 save percentage and a 9.75 goals against average.

Zlatan Nikocevic will also provide experience he finished the 2019 season with 18 goals while veterans Ivan Mercep and Carson Arnett had 13 and eight, respectively.

At center, Grant Chiponis and Kiyan Mohebbizadeh are expected to provide force and improve on their performances from the 2019 season.

Michael Sweica will also provide veteran leadership and depth to the talented Anteater team.

NEW FACES
The UCI roster will look almost entirely different with the addition of 18 new Anteaters. Joining Land in goal is newcomer Zayd Mahmoud, a USA National Youth Team player. Dylan Patist, Tyler Padua, Jacob Pyle and Nikola Ilic are also expected to make an immediate impact on the roster.

The new faces also include assistant coaches Bojan Hrlec and Randy Galza. Hrlec, a UCI alum, returns to his alma mater after coaching several club teams in the area. Hrlec was an All-American for the 'Eaters and graduated on the Dean's List in 2014. Galza joins the staff as a goalkeeper coach. He has several years of experience developing some of the top goalkeepers in the area.

UP NEXT
UCI returns home to host UC Santa Barbara Saturday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. in Golden Coast Conference action