LOS ANGELES – The eighth-ranked UC Irvine men's water polo team finished strong, outscoring No. 17 UC Santa Barbara, 9-5, in the second half to pull out a 13-12 victory at the Overnght MPSF Invitational Saturday afternoon at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
 
UCSB (10-8) took a three-goal lead at the half and stayed out front until the Anteaters tied it up at 11-all on an Alex Lopez goal with 3:40 left in the game. The Gauchos reclaimed the advantage on their next possession, but the 'Eaters locked down on defense the rest of the way. Trailing by one, Luka Krstic delivered the equalizer before Johann Thrall put away the game-winner with 51 seconds on the clock.
 
UCI snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-3 on the season.
 
BY THE NUMBERS: Junior Johann Thrall led UC Irvine with a game and season-high tying four goals. Senior Luka Krstic added his fourth hat trick of the year.
 
Junior Alex Lopez scored twice, while junior Wyley Dale, sophomore Ethan Spoon, freshman Samuel Bowman, and freshman Dylan Rosmann also found the back of the net.
 
Redshirt freshman Vincent Vega earned his first career start in the cage. Senior Zayd Mahmoud came on in the second half, finishing with four saves.
 
Brock Zamanian paced UCSB with four goals, and goalkeeper Levi Lentin anchored the defensive effort with 10 saves.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: It was a back-and-forth affair in the early going with four ties and three lead changes in the first quarter. UC Irvine struck first with Dale finishing on an entry pass from Lopez at the 4:43 mark. UC Santa Barbara answered with the first of its three penalty goals of the period. Twenty seconds later, Bowman put the Anteaters back on top, but the seesaw battle continued with the Gauchos scoring the final two goals for a 5-4 edge.
 
Both offenses slowed down in the second quarter as the 'Eaters were held scoreless, while UCSB struck twice to increase its margin to 7-4 at the half.
 
With 4:31 to go in the third frame, Thrall ended a 13-minute UCI scoring drought with a lob shot to the far post. The sides traded goals over the next couple minutes before Krstic cut the deficit to 9-8 with his first tally of the game coming on a 5-meter penalty at the 1:03 mark. UC Santa Barbara went back up by two with a powerplay goal in the final 30 seconds.
 
Krstic struck again to open the fourth period. Back-to-back goals from Thrall and Lopez then tied it up at 11-all with 3:40 to play. On their next possession, the Gauchos converted their fourth 5-meter penalty shot of the game, but the UC Irvine defense stepped up over the final few minutes. While holding UCSB scoreless, Krstic completed his hat trick, drilling a long-range shot inside the near post, and Thrall netted the eventual game-winner with 51 seconds on the clock.
 
UP NEXT: UC Irvine returns to Uytengsu Aquatics Center this evening when it takes on No. 9 Princeton at 6:30 p.m.
 
NOTES
• Johann Thrall extended his streak of games played with at least one goal scored to eight.
• UCI won its fourth in a row against fellow Big West member UC Santa Barbara.
• Luka Krstic is tops on the squad with 19 goals this season and 135 in his career.
• Dylan Rosmann scored his first collegiate goal.