IRVINE, Calif. – Freshman Tyler Padua scored on a golden goal with 2:10 minutes remaining in sudden death overtime to lift No. 14 UC Irvine over No. 6 Pacific in Golden Coast Conference action, Saturday at Anteater Aquatics Center.

UCI erased an 11-8 halftime deficit to force overtime as the game remained tied, 15-15, at the end of regulation. Both teams would each score a goal in the first overtime period to send the game to sudden death. Padua fired in a goal from the center position to give the Anteaters the upset win against the Tigers.

The Anteaters picked up their first conference win of the season to improve to 1-3 and 8-11 overall. UOP drops to 9-11 overall and 3-2 in GCC action.

UCI honored its four seniors, Ivan Mercep, Carson Arnett, Michael Swieca and Casey Lynton, prior to the start of the match.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Padua, Dylan Patist and Zlatan Nikocevic led the Anteaters with four goals each. Padua also drew four exclusions while Nikocevic and Patist dished out three assists apiece
> Grant Chiponis notched two goals while Casey Lynton, Stewart Campbell and Solan Kedzie each had one
> Harrison Land made 15 saves in goal and tallied four steals
> Pacific's Bogdan Djerkovic and Reuel D'Souza each had four goals while John Hedges made 19 stops in the cage
> UCI outshot UOP 51-45 and went 4-of-8 on extraman opportunities while the Tigers were just 2-of-13

Quarter One
> UOP got out to a 3-0 lead before Padua put the 'Eaters on the board at 5:01
> The Tigers went up 6-1 followed by a goal from Patist to make it 6-2

Quarter Two
> D'Souza scored for UOP before Padua and Nikocevic fired in back-to-back goals to make it a 7-4 game at 3:58
> UOP extended its lead, 10-6, before Patist and Nikocevic scored for the Anteaters to bring them within two, 10-8 with 34 seconds remaining
> Djerkovic would find the back of the net on a powerplay to give UOP an 11-8 halftime lead

Quarter Three
> UCI went on a 3-0 scoring run to knot the game, 11-11, at 2:10. The Anteaters got goals from Padua, Campbell, and Patist in that frame
> UOP netted a goal at 1:44 to go up 13-12
> Kedzie fired in a goal with nine seconds remaining to tie things up, 13-13

Quarter Four
> The teams exchanged back-and-forth goals before UOP scored on back-to-back opportunities taking a slight, 15-13, edge over the 'Eaters with 5:13 remaining
> Nikocevic and Patist fired in two-consecutive goals on extraman opportunities to knot the game, 15-15, at 2:16
> Neither team would find the back of the net in the final two minutes as the game remained tied, 15-15, at the end of regulation

OT
> Chiponis struck first for the 'Eaters at 2:05
> UOP's Mihailo Vukacic answered with a goal at 41 seconds to tie things back up, 16-16, and force sudden death overtime

SUDDEN DEATH
> Padua's golden goal came at 2:10 as he fired in a shot past Hedges from the center position to seal the 17-16 victory for the Anteaters

UP NEXT
> UCI concludes the regular season with a game at Long Beach State Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m.