No. 15 Anteaters Host No. 6 Pacific in Final Regular Season Home Game

Saturday, November 6

Irvine, Calif.

1:00 PM

UC Irvine

Pacific

No. 15 Anteaters Host No. 6 Pacific in Final Regular Season Home Game

November 03, 2021 | Men's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
No. 15 UC Irvine (7-11, 0-3) vs. No. 6 Pacific (9-10, 3-1)
Saturday, Nov. 6 | 1 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live stats | Live video

The No. 15 Anteaters will cap their home regular season slate with a game against Pacific Saturday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.

SENIOR DAY
The Anteaters will honor their four senior players prior to the start of Saturday's match. Those 'Eaters include Casey Lynton, Ivan Mercep, Michael Swieca and Carson Arnett.

STORYLINES
- UCI entered the season ranked 13^th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll and moved to No. 15 this week
- The Anteaters are 7-11 on the season and 0-3 in Golden Coast Conference play after a conference loss to UC Santa Barbara, 12-9, last Saturday
- Casey Lynton leads UCI and is fourth in the conference in goals scored with 47. The senior is also second in the GCC in total points with 80 and leads the conference in steals (42)
- Lynton notched 100 career goals earlier this season and currently leads the 'Eaters with 118 total goals
- Harrison Land has started 17 games in goal and has 125 saves on the season, good for fifth in the GCC
- Zlatan Nikocevic is second on the team and seventh in the GCC with 44 goals scored
- UCI has outscored opponents 118-100 in the third and fourth quarters
- 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 dropped two games last weekend including a conference match against San Jose State, 12-10, and a non-conference tilt at Stanford, 17-7
> Against SJSU, Kiyan Mohebbizadeh, Stewart Campbell and Dylan Patist each had two goals while Harrison Land made five saves and Jacob Pyle tallied one
> Against the Cardinal, UCI trailed by one, 5-4, at the half, but Stanford used a big second half outscoring the 'Eaters, 12-3, to seal the win
> Tyler Padua led the Anteaters with two goals

AGAINST THE TIGERS
> Pacific is 9-10 overall on the season and 3-1 in conference play. UOP has conference wins against Pepperdine, UCSB and San Jose State and a loss against Long Beach State
> The Tigers are on a two-game losing streak
> UCI's last win against UOP came in Nov. 2017 as the Anteaters have dropped three-straight to the Tigers
> Pacific is led in scoring by Jeremie Cote

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 concludes the regular season Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at Long Beach State