No. 13 UCI Hosts Westcliff, No. 2 Cal

Thursday, September 30

Irvine, Calif.

7:00 PM

UC Irvine

Westcliff

No. 13 UCI Hosts Westcliff, No. 2 Cal

September 29, 2021 | Men's Water Polo

By: Sarah Zetlmeisl

FOLLOW THE ANTEATERS
No. 13 UC Irvine (6-5) vs. Westcliff (2-8)
Thursday, Sept. 30 | 7 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Center
Live stats | Video

No. 13 UC Irvine (6-5) vs. No. 2 Cal (13-1)
Saturday, Oct. 2 | 1 p.m. |Anteater Aquatics Center
Live stats | Video

After four games on the road, 13^th-ranked UC Irvine returns home to host two games at Anteater Aquatics Complex. UCI welcomes NAIA school Westcliff on Thursday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. followed by No. 2 Cal on Saturday, Oct. 2 at p.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 6-5 on the season after finishing 1-3 at last weekend's MPSF Invitational
- Casey Lynton leads UCI and is second in the conference in goals scored with 33. The senior also leads the GCC in total points with 51 and steals (30)
- Harrison Land has started all 11 games in goal and has 79 saves on the season
- Zlatan Nikocevic is second on the team and fourth in the GCC with 29 goals scored
- 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
> The Anteaters began a five-game week with a 14-5 win over Concordia at home
> UCI competed in the MPSF Invitational hosted by Cal and finished the weekend with a 1-3 record
> The 'Eaters dropped their first game, 15-8, to No. 5 UCSB followed by a 15-6 loss to No. 9 UCSD
> UCI bounced back with a thrilling 13-12 win over Loyola Marymount before dropping its final game on Sunday, 18-10, to Pepperdine
> Over five games, Casey Lynton led the 'Eaters with 15 goals, five assists and seven steals. He was followed by Zlatan Nikocevic with 10 goals and three assists and Dylan Patist (6 goals)
> Harrison Land played every game in goal and finished with 26 saves

AGAINST THE WARRIORS
> This will be the first meeting between Westcliff and UCI
> The Warriors are 2-8 on the season and play in the NAIA
> Westcliff's two wins come against Biola (10-7) and Grossmont (13-11)

AGAINST THE BEARS
> Cal is 13-1 on the season with its first loss of the season coming last weekend to USC (12-11) at the MPSF Invitational
> UCI is 35-90-1 all-time against Cal. The Anteaters have dropped 12-straight games to the Bears with their last win coming in 2012
> Nikolaos Papanikolaou leads Cal with 36 goals on the season

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 host No. 1 USC Sunday, Oct. 10 at 1 p.m.