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Golden Coast Conference Championship
No. T-13/No. 6 seed UC Irvine (8-12, 1-4) vs. No. 6/No. 3 seed UC Santa Barbara
Friday, Nov. 19 | 5 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex
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GCC FIRST ROUND
No. 6 seed and 13^th ranked UCI opens action at the Golden Coast Conference Tournament Friday, Nov. 19 against No. 3 seed and sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara. Game time is set for 5 p.m.

GCC SCHEDULE
UC Irvine is hosting the Golden Coast Conference Tournament for the first time since 2017.
First Round – Friday, Nov. 19
Game 1: No. 3 UCSB vs. No. 6 UC Irvine - 5 p.m.
Game 2: No. 4 San Jose State vs. No. 5 Pepperdine - 7 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, Nov. 20
Semifinal #1: Winner of game 1 vs. No. 2 Pacific - 5 p.m.
Semifinal #2: Winner of game 2 vs. No. 1 Long Beach State - 7 p.m.
Championship – Sunday, Nov. 21
Winner of semifinal #1 vs winner of semifinal #2 – 2 p.m.

TOURNAMENT STORYLINES
- Long Beach St. won the GCC regular season and earned the No. 1 seed after finishing conference play a perfect 5-0 record. The Beach are 20-5 on the season overall
- Pacific, the No. 2 seed will play the winner of the UCI/UCSB game on Saturday in the first semifinal
- The second semifinal will feature top-seeded LBSU vs. the winner of Friday's game between No. 4 San Jose State and No. 5 Pepperdine
- The winner of the tournament earns the GCC's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships Dec. 1-5
- All six tournament teams are ranked inside the top-15 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) poll
- UCI is 4-5 all-time at the GCC Tournament. The Anteaters last played in 2019 against UCSB in the first round and fell, 13-9, and dropped to San Jose State, 14-10, in the fifth-place game
- UCI entered the season ranked 13^th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll and moved to a tie for No. 13 this week

SEASON NOTES
- Freshman Tyler Padua was named the GCC Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 11 after scoring the golden goal in UCI's 17-16 upset victory over No. 6 Pacific. The game winner came in sudden death overtime. It marks the first weekly award for Padua and the first for an Anteater this season
- The Anteaters are 8-12 on the season and 1-4 in Golden Coast Conference play after concluding the season with a loss at Long Beach State
- UCI finished conference play tied for fifth with Pepperdine. The Waves earned the No. 5 seed in the tournament after winning the head to head match with the Anteaters
- Zlatan Nikocevic leads UCI in goals scored with 49. Lynton is second with 48 and he leads in the GCC in steals (45)
- Lynton notched 100 career goals earlier this season and currently leads the 'Eaters with 119 total goals
- Harrison Land has started 19 games in goal and has 144 saves on the season, good for fifth in the GCC
- UCI has outscored opponents 127-110 in the third and fourth quarters
- 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
- UCI was ranked sixth in the GCC preseason poll
- Head coach Marc Hunt is in his 17^th season at the helm. He has amassed over 200 wins in 15 seasons and has a 212-211 (.501) overall record

ALL-GCC SELECTIONS
> Four Anteaters were honored on the 2021 All-GCC Teams
> Casey Lynton was named on the second team for the second time in his career. Lynton leads the conference in steals and assists
> Zlatan Nikocevic was named an honorable mention pick for the first time in his career. Nikocevic leads the Anteaters and is fifth in the conference in goals scored
> Harrison Land was also an honorable mention selection. The goalkeeper was fifth in the conference in saves (144) and save percentage (.439)
> Tyler Padua was placed on the All-Freshman Team. He leads the Anteaters in exclusions drawn with 47

WEEKEND REWIND
> UCI dropped its regular season finale to Long Beach State, 12-5, last weekend
> Solan Kedzie led the Anteaters with two goals while Jake Liechty, Nikola Ilic and Zlatan Nikocevic each had one

AGAINST THE GAUCHOS
> UCSB tied for second in the GCC regular season with a 3-2 conference record. The Gauchos are 21-8 overall on the season and ranked sixth nationally
> UCI and UCSB have met twice already this season with the Gauchos winning on both occasion. UCSB has won six-straight against the 'Eaters
> The Gauchos are led by All-GCC first teamer Sawyer Rhodes and second team selections Cole Brosnan, Sam Nangle and Leo Yuno
> UCI and UCSB last met in the postseason in 2019 in the first round of the GCC Tournament

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.