IRVINE, Calif. - No. 15 UC Irvine hosts the Big West men's water polo championship at Anteater Aquatics Complex, Nov. 21-23. The 'Eaters sit as the No. 5 seed in the tournament and will face No. 4 seed UC San Diego in the opening round on Friday, Nov. 21, at 12 p.m. The winner of that game will advance to play top-seeded Long Beach State on Saturday afternoon. The championship game is set for Sunday, Nov. 23, at 12 p.m.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• UCI's final regular season game on Nov. 15 at No. 12 LMU was canceled due to a campus power outage. 
• The 'Eaters finished the conference slate with a 2-3 record after falling to No. 10 UC San Diego, 8-9, on Nov. 7. 
• UC Irvine moved to 15-11 on the season after defeating No. 7 San Jose State, 11-9, on Nov. 9.
• Johann Thrall finished the regular season with 58 tallies. 
• Cole Francisco notched his fifth four-point performance in his last seven games, coming against UCSD. 
• 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 remained at No. 15 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings released on November 19. The Anteaters maintain their position in the rankings after their game was canceled this week. 

SCOUTING THE TRITONS
No. 13 UC San Diego has won two of its last three games to improve to 20-9 on the season and 2-3 in Big West play. The Tritons defeated UC Irvine, 9-8, on Nov. 7, before defeating Biola, 13-7, on Nov. 8. UCSD fell to No. 13 LMU on Nov. 9, 14-18. Senior Eamon Hennessey leads the Tritons with 54 goals, followed by senior Bennett Axline with 42 tallies on the year. Redshirt Freshman Alex Hegeman has recorded 183 saves in net for UCSD. 

SERIES HISTORY
The 'Eaters have won three of the last four meetings with the Tritons, and each of those games have been decided by just one goal. UC San Diego won their most recent match up on Nov. 7, 2025, 9-8. The Big West rivals met on Oct. 11, 2024, where the Anteaters took the match, 12-11. UCI and UCSD met twice in the 2023 season, with the 'Eaters taking both games, each by a score of 10-9 (Oct. 6, Sept. 23). 

LAST TIME OUT
The 'Eaters final regular season match at No. 12 LMU was canceled due to a campus power outage. UC Irvine dropped their final Big West match up of the season against No. 10 UC San Diego, 8-9, on Nov. 7. Wyley Dale led the 'Eaters with three goals while Cole Francisco added one goal and three assists for a four-point performance. The 'Eaters defeated No. 7 San Jose State, 11-9, on Nov. 9, for their Senior Day match. Johann Thrall led the way with three goals and one assist for a four-point outing. Luka Krstic and Wyley Dale each added two tallies in the upset of the Spartans.  

ON THE ATTACK
UC Irvine has scored 10+ goals in 22 of its 26 outings. The Anteaters' four single-digit goal games this year came against No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 USC, No. 10 UC San Diego, and No. 15 Princeton. The 'Eaters, who are averaging 13.7 goals per contest, have five players with 30+ goals on the season. Johann Thrall leads the squad with 58 tallies on the year. Luka Krstic is UCI's second-leading scorer with 42, followed by Wyley Dale with 38, Ethan Spoon with 32, and Cole Francisco with 31. With four goals last week, Thrall set a new career-best, surpassing his 54-goal mark set in the 2024 season. Spoon and Francisco have each reached the 30-goal club for the first time in their careers.

MINDING THE NET
Senior goalkeeper Zayd Mahmoud started 21 of UCI's 23 games this year, logging over 620 minutes in the cage. He has compiled 179 saves and a 11.22 goals against average. Mahmoud stopped a season-high 14 shots vs. Long Beach State on Oct. 30. 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.