IRVINE, Calif. -- UC Irvine men's water polo wrapped up their 2024 season in the semifinal round of the Big West Championship at UC Davis.

Overall record: 18-9
Conference record: 5-0
Home record: 7-3
Away record: 4-2
Neutral site record: 7-4
Big West finish: 1st
Postseason: No. 1 seeded UC Irvine advanced to the Big West Championship semifinal
Final national ranking: 9th ACWPC/10th CWPA

REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS AGAIN!
For the second straight year and second season in the Big West, UC Irvine took home the regular season crown behind a perfect 5-0 record against league opponents. It is also the second regular season crown since head coach Dan Klatt took over the helm in 2022.
 
RECORD SCORING
The 2024 squad had no issue finding the back of the cage as they recorded 400 goals in 27 games played. 400 is the highest scored in the program's single season history, besting the 360 tallied in 2022 and 2023. Additionally, the 2024 Anteaters averaged 14.81 goals per game, a new single-season best, passing the 12.86 mark set in 2023. It is the third straight year where the top mark has been reset.
 
UPSET SEASON
UC Irvine pulled off two big upsets just a week from each other as they took down two top ten squads. The first a 13-5 trouncing of the three-time defending national champions of Cal. It was the Anteaters first win over the Golden Bears since September 29, 2012, when UCI won 13-11 and the first home victory over Cal since October 2, 2010 (W, 9-8). It is also the 'Eaters largest margin of victory over the reigning national champions in program history, tied with the October 10, 1981, match played in Berkeley with the same score, 13-5.
 
Several standout performances helped to guide the Anteaters to a dominating 20-10 win over No. 4 Pepperdine. Luka Krstic rattled off seven goals and three assists to combine for ten points, the program's first ten-point performance since 2021. The freshmen tandem of Cole Francisco and Ethan Spoon contributed hat-tricks with four and three goals, respectively. On defense, Tyler Padua drew a career-high eight exclusions, the most by a UC Irvine player since 2016, while Zayd Mahmoud blocked 15 shots from finding the back of the cage. 20 goals were the most given up by Pepperdine all season.
 
100-CAREER GOALS CLUB
Four Anteaters reached the 100-career goal milestone this season. Center Tyler Padua was the first to hit the mark on Sept. 27 in a two-goal day against Cal and attacker Luka Krstic surpassed the century mark when he found the back of the cage seven times at Long Beach State (Oct. 18). On November 23rd versus Long Beach State in the Big West Championship semifinal, both Ethan Shipman and Johann Thrall reached the milestone with four goals apiece.
 
Padua (117) and Shipman (101) will graduate with the mark while Krstic (116) and Thrall (104) have time to rise in the all-time leaderboard.

BEST OF THE BIG WEST
Seven Anteaters were named to All-Big West Teams. Luka Krstic headlined on the All-Big West First Team while an attacking pair of Johann Thrall and Ethan Shipman landed on the All-Big West Second Team. The center's Tyler Padua and Jack Stevens along with rookie Cole Francisco earned honorable mention recognition. Rounding it out, Ethan Spoon, alongside Francisco, was selected to the All-Big West Freshman Team.