IRVINE, Calif. – No. 9 UC Irvine men's water polo (10-8) came back from behind to defeat No. 16 California Baptist (16-9), 12-11.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UC Irvine out-shot California Baptist, 28-25
>11 Anteaters had shot attempts
>Jacob Pyle earned the start in goal, making four saves along with one steal
>Tyler Padua led all players in goals, notching the hat-trick (3-6)
>Ethan Shipman was a team leader in shots with six along with two goals, one assist, and three steals
>Zlatan Nikocevic (2-2) and Stewart Campbell (2-3) recorded two goals each in the contest
>Jackson Matos, Dylan Patist, and Zachary Baxter all chipped in with one goal apiece
>Seven Anteaters recorded assists—Patist (2), Luka Krstic (2), Archer Sauer (2), Campbell (2), Jake Liechty (1), Shipman (1), and Matos (1)
>California Baptist was led by Caleb Teraoka, recording three goals on four shots, two assists, and one steal
 
FIRST PERIOD
>Cal Baptist started with two quick goals (7:26, 3:54) before Ethan Shipman answered with a pair (3:16, 2:27) to knot the score at 2 all
>A CBU shot took a wave just past the line to put the Lancers in front 3-2 with 1:55 to play

SECOND PERIOD
>On the Anteaters' first possession Tyler Padua took a Dylan Patist pass and scored at 7:17, 3-3
>CBU answered the next trip down at 6:56, 4-3
>Shipman passed the ball across the pool to Zlatan Nikocevic who buried the ball in the back of the cage at 5:19 to even the score at 4-4
>California Baptist would start a run of three unanswered at 5:05 then stealing the ball and drawing a five-meter penalty with one second on the shot clock and converting at 4:13, 6-4  
>Lancer defense held strong, blocking a last second shot then scoring at the other end at 3:29, 7-4
>UCI's would stop the momentum with a goal from the left side by Patist at 2:38. Archer Sauer dished the ball, 7-5
>Stewart Campbell scored an extra man goal up top with 45 seconds remaining, 7-6
>CBU scored the final goal of the half with 17 ticks left, 8-6 
 
THIRD PERIOD 
>UCI opened the half with a power play goal by Campbell on a pass from Jake Liechty, 8-7
>A five-meter penalty followed the next time down the pool and was netted by Cameron Cullens at to put CBU up 9-7 at 6:54
>A backhand by Padua at 6:33 closed the gap, 9-8
>After a CBU shot barely missed sneaking in the lower corner, Nikocevic fired the equalizer at 4:40, 9-9
>Jackson Matos stole the ball on the defensive side then scored on a power play at 2:21, 10-9
>UCI's first lead of the game was short-lived as CBU answered at 2:01, 10-10

FOURTH PERIOD
>California Baptist capitalized on a power play opportunity at 6:06 to break the deadlock, 10-11
>Coming out of the Anteater timeout, Zachary Baxter (4:54) netted the match at 11-11 with an assist from Patist
>Two turnovers from the Lancers turned into Padua's game-winning goal at 3:30 from Matos
>Strong defensive presence from UCI prevented a CBU goal to send the contest into overtime, blocking two shots and turning over the ball three times
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will close out their home stand with a doubleheader on Saturday Oct. 15 with the Golden Coast Conference opener against No. 15 San Jose State at 1 p.m. and a 6 p.m. start for Westcliff.