No. 8/8 UC Irvine Wins Seventh Straight In Triumph Of SJSU

Sunday, November 3

San Jose, CA

12 p.m.

UC Irvine

16-7

San Jose State

12-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	3	3	4	1	11
San Jose State	3	1	2	3	9

No. 8/8 UC Irvine Wins Seventh Straight In Triumph Of SJSU

November 03, 2024 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

SAN JOSE, Calif. – No. 8/8 UC Irvine snapped No. 12/13 San Jose State's three-game win streak behind an 11-9 effort on Sunday afternoon at the SRAC.

Senior Jack Stevens led the offense with his third goals, his third hat-trick of the season, and an assist for a game high four points.

The Anteaters move to 16-7 overall with the win and are riding a seven-game win streak, the longest of any Big West team this season.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Stewart Campbell and Johann Thrall made significant contributions, each netting two goals
Tyler Padua, Cole Francisco, Luka Krstic, and Gage Verdegaal rounded out the scoring with a goal apiece
UCI out-shot SJSU, 38-27
Senior Zayd Mahmoud picked up his eighth win of the season where he made nine saves
Alex Lopez dished a game high two assists
Jackson Matos stole the ball four times, a career and game best
Tyler Padua drew three exclusions with Johann Thrall right behind with two drawn kickouts
Both teams went 2-8 on power play opportunities and 1-1 in penalty shots
No. 12/13 San Jose State was led by Bence Szabo with two goals on four shots, three drawn exclusions, and one steal

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: Both sides went back-and-forth in the opening eight minutes of action. No. 12/13 San Jose State opened the scoring at 6:58 when they went on the counterattack after blocking two Anteater attempts. No. 8/8 UC Irvine got on the board with a dagger at 5:54 from Cole Francisco. Johann Thrall (2:31) drew the exclusion and found the back of the cage off the pass from Alex Lopez and then Lopez connected with Stewart Campbell with 0:24 on the clock to equalize, 3-3.
- Campbell (1), Francisco (1), and Thrall (1)
Second period: The Anteaters started the second period scoring early with a five-meter penalty conversion from Luka Krstic at 7:36. Jack Stevens (6:35) netted one a minute later after his miss to push the UCI advantage to two. The Spartans were able to find the back of the cage on the 6-vs-5 opportunity at 6:11 to move within one, but Stevens (5:55) scored on the next offensive possession and it was the last score for either side in the half, 6-4.
- Stevens (2) and Krstic (1)
Third period: UCI's attack was relentless with three unanswered scores (6:25, 5:43, and 3:46), the last a catch and shoot from Gage Verdegaal. SJSU responded to the run with two consecutive scores, but Stevens (0:37) corral of a rebound for the shot put the Anteaters up by four, 10-6.
- Campbell (1), Stevens (1), Thrall (1), and Verdegaal (1)
Fourth period: The Spartans made it a three-point game at 6:05 in the final stanza before Tyler Padua (4:04) deposited the ball in the back of the cage off the dish from Stevens to keep UCI ahead by four. A two-goal rally from SJSU in the final three minutes of the contest was not enough as No. 8/8 UC Irvine prevailed, 11-9.
- Padua (1)

UP NEXT
No. 8/8 UC Irvine returns to the Anteater Aquatics Complex for the remainder of the season and kicks off the home action with Cal State Fullerton at 6 p.m. on Nov. 8.