No. 13 UCI Hosts No. 11 Princeton

Sunday, September 19

Irvine, Calif.

11:00 AM

UC Irvine

Princeton

No. 13 UCI Hosts No. 11 Princeton

September 15, 2021 | Men's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
No. 13 UC Irvine (4-1) vs. No. T-11 Princeton
Sunday, Sept. 17 | 11 a.m. | Anteater Aquatics Center
Live stats | Video

13^th-ranked UCI continues action at home this week. The Anteaters will host No. 11 Princeton at Anteater Aquatics Complex Sunday, Sept. 19 at 11 a.m.

STORYLINES
- UCI entered the season ranked 13^th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll and remained No. 13 after the past week
- The Anteaters are 4-1 on the season, with their only loss coming against top-ranked UCLA
- Casey Lynton and Zlatan Nikocevic lead the Anteaters with 16 goals on the season
- Harrison Land has started all five games in goal and has 42 saves on the season
- 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 battled with No. 1 ranked UCLA, the Anteaters and Bruins were tied 1-1 after the first quarter as UCLA took a slight 3-2 lead at the half. The Bruins used a strong third quarter to pull ahead for the win, 12-6. Casey Lynton led UCI with four goals
> The 'Eaters bounced back to defeat La Verne 25-7 on Saturday. Lynton and Zlatan Nikocevic each had five goals
> UCI secured a win against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Sunday with a score of 13-6. Nikocevic led the way with three goals

AGAINST THE TIGERS
> UCI is 2-2 against Princeton all-time. The two teams last met in 2015 as UCI won the game 14-6
> The Tigers are 7-2 on the season with losses to Cal and Stanford
> Princeton will play LMU and Pepperdine before making the trip to Irvine

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 will host Concordia Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 7 p.m.