IRVINE, Calif. – No. 9 UC Irvine men's water polo (9-8) dropped a close 19-15 contest to No. 1 Stanford (16-0) on Friday night.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UC Irvine out-shot No. 1 Stanford, 37-27
>11 Anteaters had shot attempts
>15 goals is the most the Cardinal have allowed all season
>UC Irvine found the back of the cage first in each frame
>Jacob Pyle earned the start in goal, making two saves in 16 minutes of action
>Zayd Mahmoud made an appearance in the third period, tallying one save
>Garrett Selby closed out the contest for the Anteaters, compiling two saves
>Ethan Shipman led the way for UCI, notching the hat-trick in the second period (4-6) along with one assist
>Jake Liechty led all players in assists with four
>Tyler Padua (2-5) and Luka Krstic (1-5) put five shots on frame
>Three Anteaters took four shots—Liechty (1-4), Zlatan Nikocevic (1-4, one assist), and Stewart Campbell (2-4, two assists, and two steals)
>Zlatan Nikocevic led all players in assists with three
>Zachary Baxter recorded two goals in the match while Jack Stevens and Dylan Patist tallied one each
>No. 1 Stanford was led by Jackson Painter, notching five goals on seven shots, two assists, and two steals

FIRST PERIOD
>UCI earned the first point with a goal from Ethan Shipman (7:49), courtesy of a cross pool pass from Dylan Patist
>No. 1 Stanford score two back-to-back to take the one point advantage
>The Cardinal committed an exclusion in front of the cage, leading to a power play goal from Zlatan Nikocevic (2:48) as he received the pass from Shipman, 2-2
>Luke Krstic (0:04) was able to slip one past the No. 1 Stanford keeper to bring the Anteaters within one, 4-3

SECOND PERIOD
>A quick start from UCI in the second period with Shipman (7:47) depositing one into the cage off of a five meter penalty
>No. 1 Stanford responded back by putting one in the back of the cage just 22 seconds later before they earned another at the 6:02 mark
>Nikocevic launched one across the pool to allow Dylan Patist (5:17) to hit the opposite side of the cage, 6-5
>Shipman (2:18) notched the hat-trick after denting the twine on the left side
>The Cardinal went on to tally three consecutive goals to lead 11-6 at the half

THIRD PERIOD
>Jake Liechty got the ball to Stewart Campbell (7:09) to put the first one away for the Anteaters in the stanza
>Campbell then transitioned to help Tyler Padua (6:34) notch his first goal of the contest, 11-8
>No. 1 Stanford went on a run, scoring three in less than two minutes
>Zachary Baxter (2:35) was able to net one on a quick throw from Liechty
>With 12 seconds remaining in the period, Shipman capitalized on the UCI advantage around the cage, 16-10
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>Padua (7:15) launched a rocket into the upper 90 on the left side, Campbell credited with the assist
>Jack Stevens (4:02) received a pass from Archer Sauer to place the ball right under the Cardinal goalkeeper's arm
>Liechty (3:13) played with the goalkeeper, eventually landing the ball in the goal from the opposite side
>UC Irvine out-scored No. 1 Stanford in the period, adding five to their column in the rally
 
UP NEXT
UCI returns to action under the lights on Wednesday Oct. 12 against No. 16 California Baptist.