LA JOLLA, Calif. – UC Irvine men's water polo defeated UC Santa Barbara, 11-9, to win the inaugural Big West Championship title, advancing to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993.
 
Goalkeeper Jacob Pyle was named the 2023 Big West Men's Water Polo Championship MVP with his 14 saves to close out the victory for the Anteaters.
 
KEY MOMENT
With 30 seconds left in the contest, redshirt junior Jake Liechty called game with his barred down shot to extend the Anteater advantage by two, 11-9. UCI then made several stops as the Gauchos attempted to find the back of the cage and were successful at denying their opponent for the Anteater victory.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Jake Liechty, Ethan Shipman, Luka Krstic, and Johann Thrall all tallied two goals in the contest
• Thomas Cass, Dylan Patist, and Stewart Campbell rounded out the offensive effort with a goal apiece
• UCI converted on both their five-meter penalty opportunities for two straight contests
• Jacob Pyle amassed 14 saves for a 0.609 save percentage
• This was Pyle's seventh double figure save game of the season and third consecutive game doing so
• Krstic dished out a game best four assists
• Campbell also recorded multiple assists in the game with two
• Jack Stevens drew four exclusions in the contest
• Both Jasper Dale and Stevens stole the ball twice, a team high
• No. 2 seeded UC Santa Barbara had three different players score two goals each on the offensive end and their goalkeeper Levi Lentin blocked 11 shots

 
FROM HEAD COACH DAN KLATT
"I thought we came out playing amazing, that first quarter was one of the better quarters we've played all year, and we just got a little sloppy with the ball the next quarter-and-a-half and put ourselves in tough spots and offensive decisions that were making it tough to play the type of defense we like to play on the opposite side."
 
"It's a really big deal what these guys have done. There's a lot of really good teams and really good players that have come through this program that never had this opportunity from the late 90s until now. This was for a lot of people, this opportunity they've created. A very young team put the program on its shoulders and have dedicated themselves to putting this program in a space as one of the top programs in the country again. It couldn't happen to better humans."
 
FROM JACOB PYLE
"It doesn't really start with today. It starts a whole month ago or two months ago preparing for the conference and then coming into this tournament was all the preparation leading up to this. It was all letting the game plan flow; no matter how they came out or how we came out, they scored-we scored, we just kept to the plan and stick to the schedule and that helped us through."
 
"It's a big moment for UCI. We've got the alums on our backs and they're rooting for us and big support there. Going to NCAAs is not only for our team and our teammates, but for the history and all the alumni that support us."
 
FROM LUKA KRSTIC
"Four of those goals have to go to my teammates who earned the penalties. Today, I felt like I was being pressed a little more, so I tried to open up my teammates and provide assists. It worked out, we ended up scoring a lot of off-the-hand shots, a lot of drive shots, I was really happy for the team."
 
"Just to add, I couldn't be happier with this group of guys. The amount of chemistry we have outside the pool, we're always hanging out, we're doing everything together. In the pool, it's the same way, its competitive at training, we keep improving every single day. I'm so happy for our guys."
 
SCORING BREAKDOWN

• First period: No. 1 seeded UC Irvine and No. 2 seeded UC Santa Barbara exchanged goals in the first two minutes of the contest. The Anteaters then went on a 3-0 run capped by Patist's goal from deep after UCI reset the shot clock three times for the early 4-1 lead.
  • Campbell (1), Krstic (1), Liechty (1), and Patist (1)
• Second period: The Anteaters were able to extend their lead to four with help from a second five-meter penalty conversion from Krstic (7:15) and long-range missile from Thrall (6:24). The Gauchos would cut the deficit down to two before the end of the period, 6-4.
  • Krstic (1) and Thrall (1)
• Third period: UCSB scored three unanswered goals to tie and eventually take their first lead of the contest at 3:45. Ball movement from the 'Eaters placed the ball into the hands of Shipman twice to reclaim the advantage, 8-7.
  • Shipman (2)
• Fourth period: The final period was filled with answering each other's calls. UCI started the scoring with a shot from Thomas Cass (6:28) that was placed in the upper shelf. UCSB came back within one on the following possession, but Thrall launched one from distance with 3:28 left on the clock. The Gauchos snuck the ball in on the near side soon after and tried to take the lead with a lob shot that hit off the crossbar. Liechty barred down his shot with 30 seconds left earning UC Irvine the 11-9 victory.
  • Cass (1), Liechty (1), and Thrall (1)

 
UP NEXT
The Anteaters await their fate in the NCAA tournament with an announcement released on NCAA.com later tonight.


Post game interview with head coach Dan Klatt, Jacob Pyle, and Luka Krstic


UC Irvine Trophy Celebration