LOS ANGELES – In a close finish, the UC Irvine men's water polo team was able to come away with the 11-10 victory over No. 19/20 Santa Clara.
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In a game that saw six ties, the Anteaters never trailed in the contest.
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INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Thomas Cass, Luka Krstic, and Johann Thrall paced the Anteater offense, scoring two goals each
- Cass has scored in all four games this weekend, three of which were multi-goal games
- Thrall recorded his second multi-goal game of the weekend
- Stewart Campbell notched the game winning goal for UC Irvine
- Jacob Pyle made the start in the cage, blocking 12 shots while adding a steal
- Pyle has recorded double figure saves three time this season and twice over the weekend
- Campbell, Krstic, and Gage Verdegaal all had two assists in the game
- The Anteaters scored the first goal of the game for the 10th time this season
- No. 19/20 Santa Clara was led by Bill Barry who recorded three goals on four shots and tallied an assist and a steal
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SCORING BREAKDOWN
- First period: UC Irvine would score in pairs, going up two points before No. 19/20 Santa Clara scored their first goal of the contest and then putting two more in the net in response, 4-2.
- Baxter (1), Krstic (1), Padua (1), Thrall (1)
- Second period: The Broncos added two tallies to knot the game up early in the period. Both teams would end up going back-and-forth to end the half all tied up, 6-6.
- Cass (1) and Verdegaal (1)
- Third period: UCI come out of the halftime break to deposit two into the net. No. 19/20 Santa Clara worked the remainder of the period to come back within striking distance to remain locked up, 8-8.
- Fourth period: A string of goals for each squads resulted in a 10-10 knot up. With 2:03 remaining, Campbell found a way to get the ball into the cage for the eventual game winner. The Broncos would unload severl shot attempts, but the Anteaters would emerge with the win, 11-10.
- Campbell (1), Krstic (1), Liechty (1)
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NOTES
- Ten goals are the most UCI has conceded to Santa Clara in series history
- UCI remains undefeated against the Broncos, improving to 5-0 in the all-time series and 3-0 on neutral sites
- The last meeting between these two squads was in September 2016
- Three of UC Irvine's games this weekend were decided by one point
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UP NEXT
UC Irvine hosts the Big West-WCC Clash, drawing a first-round match against No. 11/10 Long Beach State for a 9:15 a.m. start on Saturday September 30
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