IRVINE, Calif. – Zlatan Nikocevic finished with a career-high seven goals as the No. 13 UC Irvine men's water polo team defeated NAIA's Westcliff, 17-8, Thursday evening at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

UCI improved to 7-5 on the season while the Warriors dropped to 2-9 overall.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
> Nikocevic added three assists to go along with his game-high seven goals
> Casey Lynton added five goals, two assists and a steal
> Tyler Padua, Grant Chiponis, Nikola Ilic, Michael Swieca and Archer Sauer each finished with one goal
> Harrison Land played a complete game in the cage and finished with eight saves, an assist and two steals
> Westcliff's Luca Silvestri finished with four goals

QUARTER ONE
> Lynton fired in two quick goals to make it 2-0 at 3:51 before the Warriors scored with 51 seconds remaining to cut the lead, 2-1

QUARTER TWO
> The Warriors would tie things up, 2-2, (7:16) before Nikocevic, Chiponis and Lynton each scored once to give the 'Eaters a 5-2 lead at 4:48
> The teams exchanged back and forth goals as the Anteaters held on to a 7-4 lead with 2:02 remaining
> Westcliff would score at 1:32 to make it 7-5 at the half

QUARTER THREE
> The Warriors fired in a goal at 7:38 to make it a one point game, 7-6
> Nikocevic found the back of the net before Westcliff scored on two-consecutive possessions to knot the game, 8-8, at 3:29
> UCI responded with back-to-back goals from Padua and Nikocevic, respectively, to go up 10-8 after the third frame

QUARTER FOUR
> The UCI defense locked down in the fourth quarter, holding the Warriors scoreless. On the offensive side, the 'Eaters heated up, scoring seven goals to seal the 17-8 victory
> Nikocevic struck first at 6:14 followed by an extraman goal from Lynton at 5:08
> Sauer scored at 4:25 followed quickly by a goal from Ilic at 4:01
> Swieca fired in a goal at 1:55 and Nikocevic would cap things off, scoring with just six seconds left on the clock

UP NEXT
> UCI hosts No. 2 Cal on Saturday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. at Anteater Aquatics Complex

NOTES: Casey Lynton reached 100 career goals during the game