IRVINE, Calif. – The Anteaters earned the first round bye in the Big West Championship and will play the winner of [4] UC Davis and [5] Long Beach State in the semifinal round.

Week 12 Notes
 
THIS WEEKEND
No. 6/7 [1] UC Irvine vs. [4] UC Davis or [5] Long Beach State
Saturday, Nov. 18 | 11:30 a.m. | Canyonview Aquatic Center
Live Stats | Watch | Tickets | Tournament Central

THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
>UC Irvine enters the week ranked 6th in the CWPA Weekly Poll
>UCI is slated seventh in the new Association of College Water Polo Coaches poll
> UC Irvine earned their first winning season in conference play since 2017 when they finished second in the former Golden Coast Conference
>The Anteaters won their first regular season title since the 2000 season where they tied for first place in the MPSF and first outright title since 1987
> UCI earned the first round bye in the Big West Championship entering the competition on Saturday (Nov. 18) with a semifinal match-up with either No. 4 seeded UC Davis or No. 5 seeded Long Beach State
> No. 10/6 UC Davis earned the four seed in the Big West Championship behind their 3-2 league record (15-9 overall)
> The Aggies have lost three straight contests, the second to the Anteaters in Irvine (13-12 OT) before dropping their finale to UC San Diego in La Jolla by a one-point margin (11-10) in the final seconds of the contest
> UCD's Aaron Wilson was named to the Catino Award Watch List
> No. 9/9 Long Beach State is the fifth seed in the six team tournament with their 2-3 Big West standing (16-11) overall
> The Beach handed UCI three losses this season with one being the Anteaters lone conference loss of the year
> Two of the three losses for UC Irvine to LBSU this season were by one point
> Robert Lopez Duart leads the Beach with 83 goals on the year along with goalkeeper Liam Ward who has blocked 204 shots 

NOTES
>Junior Archer Sauer and redshirt sophomore Samuel Otta led the Anteater scoring behind their hat-tricks, both going perfect 3-3 at the cage against Concordia University Irvine
> Junior Garrett Selby played the entire game in the goal versus the Golden Eagles, notching a career best 17 steals for his fourth double-figure save performance of the season
> The last time an Anteater goalkeeper recorded 17 saves in a game was Matej Matijevic twice in 2017 and Alex Kazmier in 2012, fourth best in program records since 2008
> Dylan Patist had three goals on the week along with one steal
> Stewart Campbell posted two goals and four assists in the 13-11 loss in Malibu to Pepperdine
> Luka Krstic scored three goals while adding two assists and three steals
> Krstic dished out two assists and deposited a goal versus the Waves
> Jack Stevens tallied two goals at Pepperdine
> Johann Thrall recorded three goals, three assists, and a steal over two games
> All three of Thrall's assists came in the win versus CUI
> Freshmen Gage Verdegaal and Thrall lead the team with 61 total points
> Thrall has a team best 45 goals on the season while Verdegaal is second on the squad with 28 assists
> Campbell is first on the team with his 29 assists this season
> The sophomore Krstic is second on the team in both goals (36) and points (56)
> Tyler Padua leads the league with his 12 field blocks in overall games played
> Krstic and Thrall are tied for third in goals scored league games with 13
> Thomas Cass is second in Big West games with his 10 steals
> In conference games, Pyle has the best save percentage (0.553) and goals against average (6.48)