Krstic's Impressive Seven Goals Helps UCI To 13-12 Victory

Friday, October 18

Long Beach, CA

7 p.m.

UC Irvine

11-7, 2-0

Long Beach State

13-9, 0-2

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	2	5	5	1	13
Long Beach State	3	3	3	3	12

Krstic's Impressive Seven Goals Helps UCI To 13-12 Victory

October 18, 2024 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Another career high seven goals from Luka Krstic helps lead No. 9/10 UC Irvine to a thrilling 13-12 victory over No. 8/6 Long Beach State on Friday evening.

The win snaps a 12-game losing streak to the Beach dating back to the last Anteater victory on November, 18 2017 (W, 9-8). UCI also earned their first victory in Long Beach since 9-7 win on Oct. 16, 2010.

UCI moves to 2-0 in Big West play while LBSU drops to 0-2 in conference action.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Ethan Shipman and Gage Verdegaal each netted two goals in the win
Jackson Matos and Brody Luke rounded out the scoring with one each
The Anteaters remained efficient on offense converting 13 of their 22 shots (0.591)
Jacob Pyle blocked 12 shots for his sixth double figure save performance of the season
UCI edged LBSU in power play conversions, 5-4
Cole Francisco and Shipman dished out a team best two assists
Tyler Padua led all players with seven drawn exclusions, one off his career high
No. 8/6 Long Beach State had three players record two goals

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 8/6 Long Beach State got on the board first on their first possession to take the early advantage. After multiple drawn exclusions, Luka Krstic netted two (5:31, 2:37) with the Anteaters up a player to take control of game. The Beach knotted the game 2-all on the next possession and then found the back of the cage with the help of some deflections to take the 3-2 lead with 25 seconds left.
- Krstic (2)
Second period: Ethan Shipman equalized the contest at 6:23 when he placed the ball into the upper left corner. LBSU pulled ahead by two before Tyler Padua's pass out to Krstic (4:54) for the shot brought the Anteaters within one, 5-4. The Beach barred down for another two-point lead at 4:22, but two more from Krstic (2:26, 1:44) on a catch and shoot and at the top of the formation on a 6-on-5 made it 6-all. With 21 seconds left in the half, Brody Luke went cross cage on the narrow shot, putting UCI ahead 7-6.
- Krstic (3), Luke (1), Shipman (1)
Third period: UCI continued their run with two goals in the first two minutes of the second half action. The Beach used a five-meter penalty to decrease the lead to two, but a cross-cage goal from Gage Verdegaal (3:55) and a deep launch from Jackson Matos (3:28) gave the Anteaters their largest lead of the contest, 11-7. Two LBSU goals sandwiched a five-meter conversion from Krstic (2:07) as the 'Eaters still held the 12-9 advantage into the final stanza.
- Verdegaal (2), Krstic (1), Matos (1), Shipman (1)
Fourth period: As the game drew to a close, UCI managed to hold off a late surge from Long Beach State, sealing the victory with a critical goal from Krstic (2:32) in the fourth period. The Beach found the upper corner with 1:46 left, but it was not enough as the Anteaters defeated LBSU, 13-12.
- Krstic (1)