No. 6/7 UCI Drops To No. 2/2 Cal

Saturday, September 7

La Jolla, CA

5:15 p.m.

UC Irvine

1-1

California

2-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	4	6	2	2	14
California	5	3	5	7	20

No. 6/7 UCI Drops To No. 2/2 Cal

September 07, 2024 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Jordan Kehoe

LA JOLLA, Calif. – In a game that went back-and-forth through three periods, No. 6/7 UC Irvine fell 20-14 to No. 2/2 California on Saturday evening.

UCI held the advantage, 10-8, at the half powered by Luka Krstic's three goals and two goal efforts from Stewart Campbell and Jackson Matos.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Krstic and Ethan Spoon both contributed hat-tricks in the effort
Jackson Matos, Stewart Campbell, and Jack Stevens all registered two goals apiece
Samuel Otta and Alex Lopez each tallied a goal
Jacob Pyle blocked 11 shots in 32 minutes in net along with adding a steal
Krstic dished out two assists in the contest and stole the ball a team high two times
Spoon drew a team best four exclusions
No. 2/2 California held the advantage in power plays, 18-11
Cal was led by Albert Ponferrada who recorded three goals on four shots and six assists

SCORING BREAKDOWN

First period: No. 3/3 California opened the game with two straight scores before a long range shot from Stewart Campbell (6:06) and then one from Jackson Matos (5:18) at the same spot evened the game, 2-2. Attacker Luka Krstic (0:30, 0:07) put in two in the final 30 seconds, his last a dagger past the outstretched arms of the keeper, to bring UCI within one, 5-4.
- Krstic (2), Campbell (1), and Matos (1)
Second period: The Anteaters brought the energy to start the second period, going ahead 6-5 with Campbell's near post slip at 6:30. Cal was able to go up by one, 8-7, before Ethan Spoon (2:33) drew the exclusion and quickly scored to knot the game. After a UCI shot bounced off the crossbar, Jack Stevens pushed the rebound into the net at 1:14 and some last-minute theatrics led to a five-meter conversion from Krstic (0:06) putting the 'Eaters ahead, 10-8.
- Spoon (2), Campbell (1), Krstic (1), Matos (1), and Jack Stevens (1)
Third period: After the Golden Bears brought the game back to a deadlock at 10-all, Stevens (5:08) took advantage of the counterattack going 1-vs-1 with the goalie for the score. Alex Lopez registered his first career goal at 3:17 to put UCI back in front by one, but Cal took the 13-12 lead headed into the final stanza.
- Alex Lopez (1) and Stevens (1)
Fourth period: No. 2/2 California scored four unanswered and their run was halted by Samuel Otta's close range shot at 4:38 (17-13). The Anteaters deposited one more in the cage, but ultimately fell 20-14.
- Samuel Otta (1) and Spoon (1)