Box Score Box Score  Tournament Central

LA JOLLA, Calif. – No. 12 UC Irvine men's water polo (1-0) opened their 2022 season with a 15-4 victory over Redlands (0-1), Saturday morning to kick off the Dan Klatt era.
 
The Anteaters attacked first, scoring the first goal of the match at the 1:49 mark in the quarter, leading 1-0. Redlands tied the match before taking the 2-1 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the first period of play.
 
Out of the gate, UC Irvine scored back-to-back goals to take the 3-2 advantage to start the second period. The Bulldogs responded, tying the match at 3-3, before the 'Eaters added three more to their column for a 6-3 edge going into the second half of action.
 
In the third period, UCI increased their lead to 8-3. A Redlands goal put the Bulldogs in reach, trailing 8-4. Another late goal by the Anteaters increased their lead to 9-4 with 40 seconds left in the third period.
 
A dominating Anteater offense scored six unanswered goals in the fourth quarter, winning the first match of the season 15-4.
 
Sophomore Stewart Campbell led the charge for UC Irvine, scoring three goals in the match. Following Campbell, sophomores Tyler Padua and Dylan Patist both registered two goals. Seniors Grant Chiponis and Zlatan Nikocevic, redshirt sophomore Jake Liechty, and redshirt freshman Samuel Otta all recorded a goal each.
 
In their Anteater debut, sophomores Ethan Shipman and Jack Stevens tallied their first goal in the Blue and Gold. Jacob Pyle, a sophomore, earned the win in goal for UC Irvine.
 
UCI will play its second game of the day at 3:00 p.m. against USC at Triton Pool.