Box Score
 
IRVINE, Calif. – No. 12 UC Irvine men's water polo (2-3) stumbled to No. 2 UCLA (6-0), 17-8, in the Anteater's home opener.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>UC Irvine out-shot UCLA, 30-22
>Jacob Pyle started in goal, making two saves
>Zlatan Nikocevic led the Anteaters in goals, recording four
>Nikocevic led all players in shots, tallying 10
>Ethan Shipman tied the lead for all players in assists, notching two
>Shipman finished with two goals on five shots
>Tyler Padua and Dylan Patist chipped in with one goal each
>Patist, Luka Krstic, and Jake Liechty each earned an assist
>The 'Eaters were able to capitalize on one penalty opportunity
>UCLA was led by Tommy Gruwell who recorded five goals on seven shots and two assist
 
FIRST PERIOD
>UCLA struck first on a penalty (7:46), before conceding one on a similar drive
>Zlatan Nikocevic scored twice (6:30, 5:43) to keep the first period close, 3-2 
 
SECOND PERIOD
>UCI would answer UCLA's quick goal with one by Dylan Patist at 7:08, 4-3
>The Bruins would then reel off six unanswered to take a 10-3 lead at the half  
 
THIRD PERIOD
>UCLA would add two more goals before Ethan Shipman would fire a shot from up top that would find the back of the net at 3:25, 12-4
> Nikocevic completed the hat-trick on a pass from Patist at 2:52
>UCLA would score with just one tick left in the period, 13-5 
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>UCLA would score another at 6:03 before Nikocevic (3:57) and Shipman (3:13) would net another in the cage for UCI, 14-7
>Tyler Padua (1:39) added the final goal for the Anteaters
>The Bruins scored two in the final 40 seconds of the game, winning 17-8
 
UP NEXT
UCI will travel to Berkley to face No. 1 California on Friday Sept. 16 before facing both No. 11 Princeton and No. 14 Harvard in a neutral site battle on Sunday Sept. 18.