No. 15 UC Irvine men's water polo returns to Anteater Aquatics Complex on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 6 p.m., as they host No. 9 Long Beach State for a Big West match up. The 'Eaters then travel to No. 13 Pepperdine on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m., at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. 

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• UCI improved to 2-1 in Big West play and 14-8 on the season after defeating Cal State Fullerton, 15-7, on Oct. 24.
• The 'Eaters make it two straight in Big West play with their win at CSUF.
• With their defeat of the Titans, UC Irvine boosts their Big West record to 11-2 since 2023.
• Johann Thrall led the 'Eaters with four goals, bringing his season total to 44.
• Zayd Mahmoud recorded a season-high 13 saves against CSUF. 
• Cole Francisco tallied four points against the Titans, marking his third consecutive game with four or more points.
• 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 moved up to No. 15 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings released on October 29. The Anteaters reenter the top-15 for the first time since October 1 with their second straigh Big West win. 

SCOUTING THE BEACH
No. 9 Long Beach State has dropped two of its last three games and has moved to 13-8 on the season. The Beach fell to No. 4 Stanford, 11-19, on Oct. 12, before falling to No. 15 Princeton, 14-17, on Oct. 16. Long Beach State defeated No. 10 UC San Diego, 14-12, on Oct. 17, to remain undefeated, 3-0, in Big West play. Sophomore Gabi Acosta leads the Beach with 59 goals. Junior Caleb Francisco, the brother of UCI's Cole Francisco, ranks second on the Beach with 47 goals this season.

SCOUTING THE WAVES
No. 9 Pepperdine has dropped two of its last three games and has moved to 12-10 on the season. The Waves fell to No. 8 San Jose State in a 14-17 overtime thriller on Oct. 24. Pepperdine then dropped to No.19 Harvard, 15-16, and defeated UC Merced, 25-9, on Oct. 25 at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament. Graduate Student Matty Walsh leads the Waves with 46 goals, followed closely by Graduate Student Dane Howell with 45 goals. Sophomore Max Smirnov has compiled 166 saves for the Waves.   

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine won their second Big West match of the season, 15-7, against Cal State Fullerton on Friday, Oct. 24, at Titan Aquatics Center. Junior Johann Thrall led the 'Eaters with four goals while Junior Wyley Dale netted the hat trick. Sophomore Cole Francisco tallied four points for his third consecutive game with four or more points. Senior Zayd Mahmoud recorded a season-high 13 saves against the Titans.

ON THE ATTACK
UC Irvine has scored 10+ goals in 19 of its 22 outings. The Anteaters' three single-digit goal games this year came against No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, and No. 15 Princeton. The 'Eaters, who are averaging 14.3 goals per contest, have three players with 30+ goals on the season. Johann Thrall leads the squad with 44 tallies on the year. Luka Krstic is UCI's second-leading scorer with 38, followed by Wyley Dale with 32. Dale's three goal game puts him in the 30-goal club for the first time in his career. Ethan Spoon's two tallies against the Titans puts him at 28 goals on the season, a new career best. 

MINDING THE NET
Senior goalkeeper Zayd Mahmoud started 17 of UCI's 22 games this year, logging over 490 minutes in the cage. He has compiled 137 saves and a 11.34 goals against average. Mahmoud stopped a season-high 13 shots vs. Cal State Fullerton on Oct. 24. 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
Cole Francisco was named Big West Player of the Week for the second time in his career, on Oct 22. He tallied 10 points on four goals and six assists against two top-15 ranked teams. 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. 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. 

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.