IRVINE, Calif. – Seven goals from Dylan Patist led No. 13 UC Irvine men's water polo (16-12) to a 19-18 victory over No. 9 Pepperdine (13-14) in the first round of the GCC tournament.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UC Irvine outshot Pepperdine, 34-27
>10 Anteaters had shot attempts
>Jacob Pyle earned the start in goal, making three saves and one steal
>Dylan Patist led all players going 7-9 at the cage while adding one steal
>Zlatan Nikocevic also notched the hat-trick, shooting 4-5 with one assist
>Tyler Padua had two goals on four attempts
>Jackson Matos led the team with three assists
>No. 9 Pepperdine was led by D. Blyashov who scored five goals on five attempts along with one steal
 
FIRST PERIOD
>Ethan Shipman (7:20) struck first in the contest, drilling one right down the middle, 1-0
>No. 9 Pepperdine passed their way around the formation eventually putting one past Pyle's right side, 1-1
>Zlatan Nikocevic responded at the 6:19 mark with a high efficiency shot off a pass from Jackson Matos, 2-1
>The Waves were able to knot it back up at 5:56, 2-2
>Pepperdine took their first lead of the game when a ball floated in off the current in the pool (5:13), 2-3
>With space, Nikocevic (4:55) answered with his second goal of the day to even the score, 3-3
>Jake Liechty set up Nikocevic (3:45) for the hat-trick, 4-4
>The Waves tried to counter attack, but Shipman was able to get the stop on the defensive end before Pepperdine was able to stop the Anteaters and score on their way down the pool at 1:51, 4-5
>Dylan Patist (1:21), with some help from the goal post, was able to bounce one in for UC Irvine, 5-5
>UCI had two shot attempts both hit over the net from the Pepperdine goalkeeper, Waves lead 5-6

SECOND PERIOD
>Patist (7:33) got on the board first in the second period with some help from Nikocevic, 6-6
>A hat-trick from Patist (4:52) knotted the score back up, 7-7
>On his fourth goal of the day, Patist (3:53) was able to put the Anteaters back on top, 8-7
>An exclusion on Jackson Matos set Pepperdine up for a five-meter shot, Pyle was able to block it to keep UCI's edge
>Shipman won the toss up ball to supply the pass to Patist (0:59) for his fifth goal of the game, 9-7
>Pepperdine lobbed one across the with two seconds on the clock, but it is blocked by Pyle
 
THIRD PERIOD
>After winning the sprint, Jack Stevens (7:32) scored on the first drive of the stanza, 10-7
>Pepperdine earned their first goal in almost eight minutes on a five-meter penalty shot followed by a goal on the counter attack from a UCI turnover, 10-9
>Tyler Padua (5:15) was able to extend the UC Irvine lead on the next play on an assist from Matos, 11-9
>The Waves played a ball into the middle and were able to sneak one past Pyle, 11-10
>Padua (4:15) flicked the ball into the goal on the high-flying, short pass from Shipman, 12-10
>Six down for Patist (3:11) as he was able to bounce one off the water through the left side of the goal, 13-11
>Pepperdine brings it back within one at the 2:56 mark, 13-12
>An exclusion on the 'Eaters allowed the Waves to net it back up, 13-13
>Stewart Campbell (1:09) added his first goal of the day with the extra man advantage before Pepperdine scored the equalizer, 14-14
>Nikocevic (0:29) scored his fourth of the day on the power-play opportunity, 15-14
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>Patist (7:09) blasted an absolute dagger into the goal on UC Irvine's first offensive possession in the final period, 16-14
>Pepperdine came within one, but Matos (6:22) received the pass from Shipman to keep UCI up by two, 17-15
>Zachary Baxter (3:26) put a tally on the scoresheet to create more separation, 18-15
>The Waves responded back with a goal of their own at the 3:04 mark, 18-16
>Padua shot the ball and Luka Krstic (2:34) finished on the put-back off the crossbar, 19-16
>Pepperdine put one on the board with 15 seconds remaining, 19-18
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will move on to the semifinal round of the GCC tournament to face the first-seeded Pacific at 5 p.m. on Saturday Nov. 19^th.