IRVINE, Calif. - No. 19 UC Irvine men's water polo is back at home on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m., as they host No. 13 Princeton at Anteater Aquatics Complex. The 'Eaters then head to No. 12 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, Oct. 18, for a Big West match up at 12 p.m. at Dos Pueblos High School. 

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• UCI moved to 12-7 on the season and 0-1 in Big West play after falling  to No. 9 UC Davis, 12-15, on Oct. 10 .
• The 'Eaters have dropped their last two after going on their second win streak of five or more games this season.
• UC Irvine's loss to UCD is their first conference defeat since Oct. 13, 2023, in a 9-11 decision against Long Beach State.
• Gage Verdegaal notched his third hat trick of the season against the Aggies.
• Johann Thrall netted four against UCD, bringing his season total to 37 and making him the leading scorer for the 'Eaters.
• The 'Eaters won back-to-back Big West regular season titles in 2023 and 2024.
• The Anteaters are 9-1 in conference during that stretch, including a perfect 5-0 mark last year.
• They also claimed the Big West Championship title and made their first NCAA appearance in 30 years in 2023.
• UCI returns nearly 80% of its scoring from a 2024 squad that netted a single-season school record 400 goals.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCI came in at No. 19 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings released on October 8. The Anteaters drop out of the top 15 for the first time this season. 

SCOUTING THE TIGERS
No. 13 Princeton has dropped its last three games to move to 14-6 on the season. The Tigers dropped to Harvard, 12-13, on Oct. 5, before falling 10-23 to No.1 UCLA on Oct. 11. Princeton dropped to No. 8 Pepperdine, 12-15, on Oct. 12, and they will face No. 3 USC on Tuesday, Oct. 14, before facing the 'Eaters. Senior Logan McCarroll leads the Tigers with 34 goals this season, followed closely by Junior Finn LeSieur with 33 tallies. 

SCOUTING THE GAUCHOS
No. 12 UC Santa Barbara has won two of its last three games, each decided by just one goal. The Gauchos fell to No. 11 LMU, 9-10, on Oct. 4, before completing the 13-12 upset of No. 6 San Jose State later that same day. UCSB won their first Big West match up of the season, 11-10, against No. 6 UC San Diego on Oct. 11. Sophomore Danilo Dragovic leads the Gauchos with 51 goals on the season, followed by Redshirt Senior Brock Zamanian with 42 tallies. 

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine dropped their first Big West match of the season, 12-15, to No. 9 UC Davis on Friday, Oct. 10, at Anteater Aquatics Complex. Junior Johann Thrall led the 'Eaters with four goals, bringing his season total to 37, and making him the leading scorer for UCI. Junior Gage Verdegaal netted his third hat trick of the season while junior Wyley Dale added two tallies for the Anteaters. 

ON THE ATTACK
UC Irvine has scored 11+ goals in 17 of its 19 outings. The Anteaters' two single-digit goal games this year came against No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 USC. The 'Eaters, who are averaging 14.8 goals per contest, have six players with 20+ goals on the season. Johann Thrall leads the squad with 37 tallies on the year. Luka Krstic is UCI's second-leading scorer with 34, followed by Wyley Dale (29), Ethan Spoon (25), Jack Stevens (23), and Cole Francisco (23). Thrall's four-goal game boosts him to the leading scorer position. Dale's two-goal showing puts him just one tally away from hitting the 30-goal mark for the first time in his career. Spoon's goal against the Aggies puts him one away from tying his career-high of 26 tallies. 

MINDING THE NET
Senior goalkeeper Zayd Mahmoud started 14 of UCI's 19 games this year, logging over 390 minutes in the cage. He has compiled 111 saves and a 12.07 goals against average. Mahmoud stopped a season-high 12 shots vs. No. 19 CMS on Oct. 3. Junior Blake Borders earned the start against Cal Lutheran (Sept. 6) and Biola (Sept. 27), finishing with seven and nine saves. Redshirt freshman Vincent Vega got the nod vs. UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 20) and Occidental (Sept. 27), logging nine saves against the Tigers. Redshirt Sophomore Nolan Cary got his first start against Concordia and stopped a season-best 11 shots. 

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
Freshman Dylan Rosmann recorded his first multi-goal game in a 16-7 win over Biola (Sept. 27). Freshman Samuel Bowman scored his first collegiate goal with 1:35 left in the third quarter of a 21-7 victory over Concordia. Bowman struck again one minute later to cap a seven-goal period for the Anteaters. Rosmann also connected for his first career goal in a 13-12 win over UC Santa Barbara (Sept. 20). Sophomore Keegan McGann had the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career with two tallies against Cal State Fullerton, while sophomore Maddox McEwen netted a career-high four goals vs. Cal Lutheran. 

WEEKLY ACCOLADES
Ethan Spoon was named the Big West Player of the Week for the first time in his career, on Oct. 1. Spoon recorded 10 goals at the Lancer Joust and netted a career-high six against Occidental. His career-best performance led the 'Eaters to a season-high 23 goals against the Tigers. Luka Krstic was named the Big West Player of the Week for the first time this season, and fifth time in his career, on Sept. 17. Krstic had a pair of multi-goal games against the top-two ranked teams in the country, finishing with two at No. 1 UCLA and three vs. No. 2 USC. He was the only Anteater to find the back of the net multiple times against the Trojans. 

PRESEASON HONORS
Seniors Luka Krstic and Jack Stevens were named to the eight-member Preseason All-Big West Team as voted on by the conference's head coaches. Krstic is coming off a 2024 campaign in which he led the Anteaters with 80 points on 52 goals and 28 assists. He is a two-time All-American and first-team All-Big West selection. Stevens finished with 30 goals and 12 assists a year ago. He is a two-time All-Big West honoree. As a team, UCI was picked to finish third in the Big West Preseason Coaches Poll. The 'Eaters received 18 points to come in behind Long Beach State (29) and UC San Diego (20).

ALL-BIG WEST RETURNERS
The Anteaters return five All-Big West honorees from a 2024 squad that won their second-straight regular-season title. Luka Krstic was named to the first team, and Johann Thrall garnered second-team distinction. Cole Francisco and Jack Stevens were both honorable mention selections, while Francisco and Ethan Spoon made the All-Freshman Team.

STORIED HISTORY
UC Irvine men's water polo is in its 60th year as a program, and 59th season of competition (2020 season canceled). Since 1965, the Anteaters have put together 17 seasons with 20 or more wins, including a perfect 30-0 campaign in 1982 when they won the second of their three NCAA Championships (1970, 1982, 1988). The 'Eaters, who earned a spot in each of the first 10 NCAA tournaments, have made 22 postseason appearances.

HOME SWEET HOME
UCI is set to host the 2025 Big West Championships at Anteater Aquatics Complex, November 21-23. The conference tournament will make its way to Irvine after being held in La Jolla in 2023 and in Davis in 2024.