UC Irvine men's water polo wrapped up its 2021 season last weekend at the Golden Coast Conference Championships.

Overall record: 8-13
Conference record: 1-4
Home record: 5-5
Away record: 2-5
Neutral site record: 1-3
GCC finish: T-5
Postseason: UCI was the No.6 seed and lost to No. 3 seed UCSB, 17-7, in the first round of the GCC Tournament
Final national ranking: T-13

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
- 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 marked the first weekly award for Padua and the only weekly award for the Anteaters
- UCI finished conference regular season play tied for fifth with Pepperdine
- Four Anteaters were named on the All-GCC Teams. Casey Lynton led the way with second team honors while Zlatan Nikocevic and Harrison Land were named honorable mention. Tyler Padua was recognized on the All-Freshman Team
- Lynton reached a career milestone of 100 goals during the season. He ends his UCI career with 120 goals
- The Anteaters outscored opponents 130-119 in the second half of games
- UCI had a young team with 18 players joining the squad for the 2021 season and just 11 returners
- The Anteaters graduate four players in Casey Lynton, Michael Swieca, Ivan Mercep and Carson Arnett
- UCI entered the season ranked 13^th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll and ended tied for No. 13
- Head coach Marc Hunt wraps up his 17^th year at the helm with a 220-224 career record
- Assistant Coaches Bjoan Hrlec and Randy Galza completed their first seasons on the pool deck for the Anteaters

SEASON STAT LEADERS (conference rank)
Goals: Zlatan Nikocevic – 50 (7^th in GCC)
Assists: Casey Lynton – 38 (3^rd)
Points: Lynton – 87 (3^rd)
Steals: Lynton – 45 (2^nd)
Saves: Harrison Land – 151 (5^th)
Exclusions Drawn: Tyler Padua - 52
Field Blocks: Lynton – 12
Sprints: Nikola Ilic – 14 (6^th)