UCI Drops To Pepperdine In Regular Season Finale

Saturday, November 11

Malibu, Calif.

1 p.m.

UC Irvine

16-8, 4-1

Pepperdine

24-5, 5-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	2	2	5	2	11
Pepperdine	4	2	2	5	13

UCI Drops To Pepperdine In Regular Season Finale

November 11, 2023 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

MALIBU, Calif. – No. 5/7 UC Irvine dropped to No. 6/5 Pepperdine, 13-11, in the Anteaters regular season finale.

The UCI offense ran through junior Stewart Campbell as he scored two goal on three shots and assisted on four other goals.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Luka Krstic, Jack Stevens, and Johann Thrall also had multiple goal games, scoring two each
Juniors Dylan Patist and Ethan Shipman had the other Anteater tallies
Both teams took 31 shots in the game
Junior Jacob Pyle made the start in the cage and played the first half, blocking 10 shots
Junior Garrett Selby closed out the game in net posting four saves
Krstic stole the ball twice, a team best, and dished out two assists
No. 6/5 Pepperdine was led by Travis Reynolds who recorded four goals on seven shots along with one steal

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 6/5 Pepperdine struck first in the game before Stevens went for the back handed ripping shot in the center to tie the contest. The Waves put in two more, but Verdegaal saw his shot go in off the goalkeeper's hands. Pepperdine snuck one more into the cage to go up, 4-2.
- Stevens (1) and Verdegaal (1)
Second period: Both sides went back and forth with the scoring before the halftime break. The Anteaters were the ones to start the scoring off a Thrall shot that was bounced off the water into the cage. UCI still trailed, 6-4.
- Shipman (1) and Thrall (1)
Third period: UCI was red hot in the third period as they erased the deficit to take their first lead of the day. Campbell went back-to-back on the goal scoring effort with his quick releases before he assisted on two of the next three UCI goals to go up, 9-8.
- Campbell (2), Krstic (1), Stevens (1), and Thrall (1)
Fourth period: The Waves crept their way back into the game with two early goals in the final period. Patist would tie the game with his near sided shot, but Pepperdine responded back with three unanswered. Krstic shot the games only penalty shot with two seconds left on the clock, but it was not enough as UCI dropped, 13-11.
- Krstic (1) and Patist (1)

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will play the winner of the UC Davis and Long Beach State in the Big West Championship semifinal game on Saturday Nov. 11 at 11:30 a.m. on the campus of UC San Diego.