UCI Hosts Inagural Big West-WCC Clash

Saturday, September 30

Irvine, Calif.

9:15 a.m.

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

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UCI Hosts Inagural Big West-WCC Clash

September 28, 2023 | Men's Water Polo

By: Jordan Kehoe

IRVINE, Calif. – The Anteaters are set to host the inaugural Big West-WCC Clash this weekend that will feature five Big West teams and three WCC squads.

Week Five Notes | Tournament Central | Tickets

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THIS WEEKEND
No. 9/9 UC Irvine vs. No. 7/7 Long Beach State
Saturday, Sept. 30 | 9:15 a.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live Stats

No. 9/9 UC Irvine vs. No. 13/14 Loyola Marymount
Saturday, Sept. 30 | 3:00 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live Stats

No. 9/9 UC Irvine vs. No. 16/16 California Baptist
Sunday, Oct. 1 | 8:00 a.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex
Live Stats

No. 9/9 UC Irvine vs. TBA
Sunday, Oct. 1 | TBA | TBA
Live Stats

THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
>UC Irvine enters the week ranked 9th in the CWPA Preseason Poll, rising three spots after a week off of action
>UCI is slated ninth in the new Association of College Water Polo Coaches poll
>The Anteaters will play in the first ever Big West-WCC Clash this weekend in Irvine and are paired in Group A with No. 7/7 Long Beach State, No. 13/14 Loyola Marymount, and No. 16/16 California Baptist
>No. 7/7 Long Beach State split their weekend at the Overnght/MPSF Invite, 2-2
>The Beach enters the weekend with an 10-4 overall record, picking up wins over UCI (13-12, SDOT) and UC Davis (15-10)
>The Anteaters will then take on No. 13/14 Loyola Marymount in the second game of the weekend
>The Lions defeated San Jose State (17-12) before falling to UC Santa Barbara (13-10) over the weekend
>LMU narrowly defeated UC San Diego on Wednesday night in La Jolla, 11-10
>UCI and No. 16/16 California Baptist will rematch from their first meeting of the season at the Triton Invitational where the Anteaters won 18-10 on Sept. 2
>CBU competed in the Overnght/MPSF Invitational over the last weekend, falling in all four matches with two coming down to a one-point differential
No. 9/9 UC Irvine will take on one of the Group B teams in either a 2 p.m. or 3:30 p.m. meeting to close out Sunday

NOTES
>UC Irvine went 3-1 at the Overnght/MPSF Invitational where they defeated Whittier (24-1), UC San Diego (10-9), and Santa Clara (11-10)
>The Anteaters return to their home pool for the first time in three weeks
> UCI outscored their opponents 57-33 over the weekend
>Freshman Gage Verdegaal tallied eight goals, six assists, and four steals over the weekend
>Veregaal notched the hat-trick against Long Beach State and his third goal was in the final seconds of the second overtime period to force a sudden victory period
>Junior Thomas Cass also had eight goals over the weekend including a hat-trick over Whittier
>Tyler Padua compiled six goals, one assist, two steals, and two field blocks
>Ethan Shipman scored four goals in the loss to Long Beach State and also had one assist, one steal, and a field block
>Freshman Johann Thrall contributed six goals, two assists, one steal, and a field block over a four game weekend
>Jacob Pyle earned two wins to go with 30 saves in three games
>Pyle put up two double-figure save games over the weekend
>Juniors Garrett Selby, Aidan Byrne, and freshman Nolan Cary all saw at least one quarter of action in the cage