RIVERSIDE, Calif. – UC Irvine women's water polo (3-1) set a new school record for team goals in a game in their 24-7 victory over RV Azusa Pacific (1-4).
 
The previous record of 23 team goals in a game was first set in March 2014 and was tied on two other occasions (2017 and 2022).
 
For the first time in program history, UCI has posted two consecutive 20-point efforts, defeating RV California Baptist earlier in the day 20-6.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>No. 6 UC Irvine outshot RV Azusa Pacific, 40-22
>For the third consecutive contest, UCI has shot at a 0.600 clip or better
>In the last three games, the Anteaters have held their opponents to single digit goals
>12 Anteaters scored in the contest while 16 had shot attempts
>Jordan Frost earned her first start in the cage this season, making six saves to go along with a game high five steals
>Nioka Thomas led all players in goals with four on five attempts
>Elena Flynn (3-4), Jessica Lynch (3-3), and Gracie Helberg (3-4) all notched hat-tricks
>Libby Alexander (2-4), Gabby Norris (2-3), and Alexandra Mould (2-2) rounded out the multi-goal scores for the 'Eaters
>Lynch tied the game high two assists
>Kili Skibby and Thomas each tallied three steals
>RV Azusa Pacific was led by Montana White recording three goals on three shots

FIRST PERIOD
>RV Azusa Pacific won the opening sprint and used that possession to score first, 1-0 (7:43)
>Jessica Lynch was the first Anteater to get on the board after finding the back of the net at 6:27, 1-1
>UCI committed two turnovers with both leading into Cougar goals (5:46, 5:18), 1-3
>APU stretched their lead on the counterattack at 4:36 to lead 1-4
>Center Olivia Giolas would fire the ball towards the cage on two consecutive possessions but were blocked by the APU goalkeeper
>Jensine Bugelli found Gracie Helberg in front of the goal to help close in on the Cougar lead at 1:33, 2-5
 
SECOND PERIOD
>Lynch dented the twine at 7:14, 3-5
>Jordan Frost anticipated the Cougar ball with the play ending in a Brooke Banta goal at 6:46, 4-5
>No. 6 UC Irvine went on an offensive run with goals from Thomas (5:40) and Lynch (4:57) to take the lead, 6-5
>While up a man due to an APU exclusion, Thomas deposited a goal with 3:41 remaining before Elena Flynn found the back of the cage at 3:13 with help from Lynch, 8-5
>With 49 seconds left in the half, Lynch dished out another assist finding Thomas for the hat-trick, 9-5
>Azusa Pacific snuck one past the Anteater defense at 0:13 to close out the period, 9-6

THIRD PERIOD
>Helberg stopped the scoring drought for both teams after she was able to convert on the five-meter attempt at 5:44, 10-6
>The Cougars drew the exclusion and used the one-man advantage to put the ball in the back of the cage, 10-7 (5:32)
>Flynn (3:48) added a tally to the scoresheet, stripped the ball from an APU player, and set up the play that led to Thomas's (3:07) fourth goal, 12-7
>Banta passed the ball over to Flynn who found the back of the net for the hat-trick, 13-7 (2:13)
>Kili Skibby stole the ball on two consecutive possession that allowed her to score at 0:34, 14-7
 
FOURTH PERIOD
>Gabby Norris added the first goal of the final period at 7:14 on her five-meter shot, 15-7
>Frost's fifth steal of the game allowed Libby Alexander to beat the Cougar goalie at 6:16, 16-7
>Azusa Pacific turned the ball over on their offensive possession. Norris received the pass from Maeve Murphy at 4:54 to put the 'Eaters up by 10, 17-7
>UCI scored seven more goals from Sabina Shackelford (4:05), Bugelli (3:26), Helberg (2:48), Murphy (2:00), Alexandra Mould (1:20, 0:43), and Alexander (0:01) in the final four minutes to win 24-7

UP NEXT
The Anteaters are set to face No. 19 Pacific and Fresno Pacific on Saturday Jan. 28 for 8 a.m. and 2:15 p.m. starts.