No. 8 'Eaters Finish Big West Undefeated in 21-7 Win over Cal State Fullerton

Friday, November 8

Irvine, CA

6 p.m.

UC Irvine

17-7, 5-0

Cal State Fullerton

11-16, 0-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Cal State Fullerton	1	1	2	3	7
UC Irvine	7	5	5	4	21

johann-thrall-uci-mwp-2024-lmu-calstatefullerton

Photo by: Matt Brown

No. 8 'Eaters Finish Big West Undefeated in 21-7 Win over Cal State Fullerton

November 08, 2024 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Alex Roberts-Croteau

IRVINE, Calif. --- No. 8/8 UC Irvine men's water polo completed their perfect Big West season with a 21-7 victory Friday night over Cal State Fullerton at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

Friday night's match was Senior Night for the Anteaters recognizing seven 'Eaters with five in the starting lineup - Stewart Campbell, Thomas Cass, Jack Stevens, Tyler Padua, and Ethan Shipman - with the senior goalies, Jacob Pyle and Aidan Byrne, splitting time in the cage.

UC Irvine is now 17-7 on the season winning their eighth in a row, still the longest of any Big West school this season.

Inside The Numbers

Johan Thrall led all scorers with six goals scoring twice in each of the first three quarters
Stewart Campbell and Jack Stevens each had four-goal matches. Alex Lopez and Ben Youngblood also had two goals each
UCI out-shot Cal State Fullerton, 36-21, making 58.3% percent of their shots
Pyle and Byrne came together for eight saves in net with Pyle collecting the victory
Pyle joined Cole Francisco with a pair of assists each of the 10 'Eaters with an assist
UC Irvine totaled 12 steals with multiples for Lopez, Stevens, Youngblood, and Luka Krstic
Tyler Padua drew three exclusions to lead the squad that drew 11 as a team
The 'Eaters were 5 of 11 on the power play in the match and allowed just one goal on nine penalty kill opportunities. The Titans earned two penalty shots burying each of them
Cal State Fullerton was led by Julian Nichols with two goals and an assist with Alec Isaacman scoring twice himself. Garrett Henderson in net stopped nine shots

Scoring Breakdown

First Quarter: Each team scored on their first shot with Jack Stevens burying the opener at 7:39 followed by the Titans tying it at 7:12. Stewart Campbell got the lead back at 6:45 and the 'Eaters never looked back with the next five goals from Stevens (3:55), Johann Thrall (3:35 and 1:07), Jackson Matos (2:48), and Cole Francisco (0:28). Jacob Pyle knocked down four shots in the opening period
- Stevens (2), Thrall (2), Campbell (1), Matos (1), Francisco (1)
Second Quarter: Stewart Campbell scored his second of the game at 6:08 in the second to start the scoring. Alex Lopez added the second goal on a counter at 3:22, and 19 seconds later another countered got Thrall his third of the night. The Titans broke the string of nine straight Anteater goals at 1:27, but Thrall netted his fourth at 0:43, and Lopez closed out the period at 0:19 with another to make it 12-2
- Thrall (2), Lopez (2), Campbell (1)
Third Quarter: Campbell collected his hat trick at 7:26 on a power play. Cal State Fullerton put in a penalty shot at 7:09. The teams continued to trade scores with Stevens at 6:30, Fullerton again at 6:00, and Campbell's fourth of the match at 4:47. Thrall's fifth at 3:30 broke the trend, and he had another trickle over the line at 2:51 leading the charge for the final three goals of the period and a 17-4 edge
- Thrall (2), Campbell (2), Stevens (1)
Fourth Quarter: The Titans skipped home the opening goal of the fourth at 5:10 and added to it at 4:06 and a penalty conversion at 3:26. The 'Eaters broke the string with two straight Ben Youngblood strikes at 3:00 and again at 2:08, the 20th goal of the night at 1:22 for Ethan Spoon, and the final goal from Stevens at 0:30
- Youngblood (2), Spoon (1), Stevens (1)