No. 7 UC Irvine (4-0) vs. 
Cal Lutheran (0-0)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 6
Time: 11:40 a.m. (PDT)
Location: Thompson Aquatic Center - Redlands, Calif.
Live Stats | Watch

No. 7 UC Irvine (4-0) at
Redlands (0-4)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 6
Time: 5 p.m. (PDT)
Location: Thompson Aquatic Center - Redlands, Calif.
Live Stats | Watch


IRVINE, Calif. - The seventh-ranked UC Irvine men's water polo team heads to the University of Redlands for two games at the Inland Empire Classic on Saturday, Sept. 6. The Anteaters are set to face Cal Lutheran at 11:40 a.m. and the host Bulldogs at 5 p.m. Both contests will be held at Thompson Aquatic Center.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
• The 'Eaters opened the season by hosting the UCI Invitational where they went 4-0.
• It is the program's first 4-0 start since the 2015 season.
• The Anteaters scored 15+ goals in all four games (16.5 gpg).
• UC Irvine won back-to-back Big West regular season titles in 2023 and 2024.
• The 'Eaters 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.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
Cal Lutheran (0-0) is sixth in the CWPA Division III rankings. CLU opens its season, and the Inland Empire Classic, on Friday with games against Pacific and UC San Diego. Last year, the Kingsmen went 14-14 overall and tied for fourth in the SCIAC with a 7-5 conference record. They return 20 letterwinners from that squad.

Redlands (0-4), which is second in the latest CWPA Division III Rankings, lost all four games to Division I opponents at the Rare Air Challenge at Air Force in Colorado. Joseph Madigan and Harrison DeCourcy paced the Bulldogs with six goals each. Troy Barker and Nathan Gattorna split time in the cage, notching 50 and 22 saves, respectively. Redlands returns 10 letterwinners from last year's squad that won the USA Division III Collegiate National Championship. The 2024 SCIAC champions finished the campaign with an 18-12 overall record (10-2 conference).

IN THE RANKINGS
UCI is tied for seventh with Long Beach State in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association's rankings released on September 3. The Anteaters and the Beach are the highest ranked Big West teams.

UCI INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Anteaters hosted the UCI Invitational to kick off the 2025 season. They went 4-0 over the two-day tournament at Anteater Aquatics Complex, starting with a pair of 15-14 victories over No. 16 LMU and No. 13 California Baptist. Cole Francisco and Jasper Dale paced the offense with three goals each against the Lions. Francisco also led the 'Eaters in their match-up with the Lancers as he netted a game-high four goals. On the second day of action, Johann Thrall found the back of the cage four times in a 15-8 win vs. Cal State Fullerton, while Samuel Otta and Ethan Spoon registered four tallies each in a 21-7 rout of Concordia. Zayd Mahmoud saw most of the action in between the posts, totaling 35 saves and a 12.00 goals against average.

OFFENSIVE MINDED
UC Irvine scored 15+ goals in each of its first four games with a season-high 21 in a win over Concordia. The Anteaters, who are averaging 16.5 goals per outing, had eight different players register at least one hat trick in the first weekend of action. Cole Francisco led the way with four goals vs. CBU, and three against both LMU and Concordia.

MINDING THE NET
Senior Zayd Mahmoud, who started each of the first four games of the campaign, logged 136 minutes in the cage. He finished the UCI Invitational with 35 saves and a 12.00 goals against average. He stopped a season-high nine shots against Concordia on August 30. Redshirt freshman Vincent Vega made his collegiate debut, playing the second half vs. Cal State Fullerton where he tallied four saves. Sophomore Nolan Cary also notched three saves in eight minutes of action.

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
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. Sophomore Keegan McGann also had the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career with two tallies in a 15-8 win against Cal State Fullerton.

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, two-time first-team All-Big West selection, and four-time Big West Player of the Week. Stevens finished with 30 goals and 12 assists a year ago. He is a two-time All-Big West honoree.

BACK FOR MORE
The Anteaters welcome back three of their top four scorers from last year's squad that set a single-season school record with 400 goals. Junior Johann Thrall (54) and senior Luka Krstic (52) combined for over 100 of those goals, while sophomore Cole Francisco found the back of the net 29 times in his first collegiate season. Krstic (First Team), Thrall (Second Team), Francisco (Honorable Mention & All-Freshman), Jack Stevens (Honorable Mention), and Ethan Spoon (All-Freshman) received all-conference honors in 2024.

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.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will face the top-two ranked teams in the country next week, as it travels to No. 1 UCLA on Friday, Sept. 12, and hosts No. 2 USC on Saturday, Sept. 13.