Anteaters Dominate In Gary Troyer Invitational Opener

Friday, October 4

Pomona, CA

12:20 p.m.

UC Irvine

6-6

Air Force

9-9

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Air Force	3	4	1	3	11
UC Irvine	5	8	5	6	24

Anteaters Dominate In Gary Troyer Invitational Opener

October 04, 2024 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

POMONA, Calif. – The Anteaters were dominant in their Gary Troyer Invitational opening game with a convincing 24-11 victory over No. 20 Air Force.

UC Irvine matches their highest goal total of the season first set back on Sept. 8 against Concordia Irvine with four Anteaters notching hat-tricks. Junior Luka Krstic was a standout for the Anteaters, netting four goals, while Cole Francisco, Jack Stevens, and Johann Thrall each added three.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Stewart Campbell, Jasper Dale, and Wyley Dale each had multi-goal games with two apiece
Thomas Cass, Tyler Laymon, Brody Luke, Keegan McGann, and Samuel Otta rounded out the scoring
The Anteaters shot at a hot 63.2 percent (24-38)
Gage Verdegaal was a pivotal point of the offense as he dished out a career high four assists
Jacob Pyle stifled the Falcon offense with his 13 saves, a season high
Francisco recorded four steals in the contest followed by Jack Stevens with three
UC Irvine converted all six of their five-meter penalty attempts
No. 20/20 Air Force was led by Tom Leggett with six goals on ten shots, two assists, three drawn exclusions, and a steal

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 6/7 UC Irvine went on a 3-0 run to open the action that saw Cole Francisco score at 7:24 and then assist over to Luka Krstic (5:28) for a score. Both sides then would have an answer to each other's scores with one of their own. Johann Thrall (3:44) converted the Anteaters first five-meter shot of the contest before Samuel Otta did at 1:54 as UCI led 5-3.
- Francisco (1), Krstic (1), Otta (1), Jack Stevens (1), and Thrall (1)
Second period: The Anteaters displayed their offensive capabilities in the second period with eight total goals, as they put three away (7:39, 7:06, 6:30) within the first minute and a half. Much like the first period, both sides exchanged goals until three straight from UCI (2:55, 2:11, 0:44) pushed the advantage to 13-7.
- Francisco (2), Krstic (2), Stewart Campbell (1), Thomas Cass (1), Wyley Dale (1), Stevens (1)
Third period: UCI's defense clamped down while the offense remained at work only allowing No. 20 Air Force to find the back of the net once over the eight-minute span. In just four minutes, the 'Eaters put away four answered starting with a long pass from Jacob Pyle to Thrall (4:50) and ending with Jasper Dale (0:58) denting the twine to keep UCI ahead, 18-8.
- Campbell (1), J. Dale (1), Krstic (1), Stevens (1), and Thrall (1)
Fourth period: The Anteaters kept their foot on the gas, putting away six goals in the final stanza. UCI continued scoring in waves as the action started with a shoot and score from Keegan McGann at 7:25 and then a third tally from Thrall at 5:53. After a grouping of Anteater scores in between Falcon tallies, Brody Luke sealed the game with a score at 1:02 and then assisting on J. Dale's (0:01) last second shot as UCI took the 24-11 victory.
- W. Dale (1), Laymon (1), McGann (1), and Thrall (1)