‘Eaters Cruise Past Whittier, 13-6, to Open Gary Troyer Invitational

Friday, October 2

Claremont, Calif.

11:30 A.M.

UC Irvine

Whittier College

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UC Irvine	2	3	5	3	13
Whittier	2	0	0	4	6

Photo by: Jacob Thompson/UC Irvine Athletics

‘Eaters Cruise Past Whittier, 13-6, to Open Gary Troyer Invitational

October 02, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

CLAREMONT, Calif. – No. 6 UC Irvine men's water polo defeated Whittier, 13-6, in their opening game of the Gary Troyer Invitational on Friday morning.

The 'Eaters and Poets traded two goals apiece in the opening quarter, heading into the second frame tied at 2-2. UCI then took control of the game defensively, holding Whittier scoreless in both the second and third quarters while adding three goals in the second and five in the third to build a 10-2 advantage heading into the final frame. The Poets responded with four goals in the fourth, but the Anteaters added three of their own to secure the 13-6 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS: Senior Alex Lopez and freshman Charlie Jones led the 'Eaters with three goals apiece, while Johann Thrall added two and Wyley Dale contributed one.

Four UCI freshmen also found the back of the net, with River Davis, Aiden Sexton, Declan Murphy, and Ryan Fresca each scoring once. Fresca also recorded two assists for a three-point outing. Maddox McEwen led the team with three assists, while Gage Verdegaal added two.

In net, freshman Nico Assalian recorded four saves and two assists, while sophomore Vincent Vega took over and added two saves.

Daniel Totev led the Poets with three goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED: UCI opened the scoring at the 6:31 mark after Ethan Spoon drew an exclusion, setting up Alex Lopez to convert on the ensuing power play and give the Anteaters an early 1-0 lead. Lopez struck again just 46 seconds later, scoring his second consecutive goal at the 5:45 mark to extend the advantage to 2-0. The Poets answered with two late goals, scoring with 54 seconds remaining before converting a penalty shot with just four seconds left in the frame to pull even at 2-2 heading into the second quarter.

The Anteaters erupted for three unanswered goals in the second period while holding the Poets scoreless. Johann Thrall opened the scoring at the 4:59 mark, finding the back of the net off a pass from Nico Assalian to put UCI back in front, 3-2. Charlie Jones then added back-to-back goals to close out the period, scoring first at the 4:06 mark on the man advantage with an assist from Ryan Fresca. Jones struck again at 3:22, once more converting on the power play with help from Jayson Hubbard, to give the Anteaters a 5-2 lead at the half.

The 'Eaters continued their defensive dominance in the third quarter, scoring five unanswered goals while once again shutting out the Poets. Wyley Dale opened the scoring at the 7:41 mark, finding the back of the net off an assist from Gage Verdegaal to extend UCI's lead to 6-2. Thrall added another goal at 4:51, with Assalian providing the assist, before Fresca tacked on a goal at 3:13 off a pass from Brody Luke to make it 8-2. Lopez then converted on the man advantage at the 2:12 mark, with Fresca earning the assist. Jones completed his hat trick with just one second remaining in the quarter, finding the net off a pass from Maddox McEwen to give the Anteaters a commanding 10-2 lead heading into the final frame.

UCI's freshmen took over in the fourth quarter, accounting for all three of the Anteaters' goals in the final frame. The Poets struck first, converting on a penalty shot at the seven-minute mark to cut the deficit to 10-3. The 'Eaters quickly answered with two goals of their own, beginning with Aiden Sexton's tally at the 6:35 mark off an assist from Maddox McEwen to extend the lead to 11-3. River Davis added another at 5:18, once again with McEwen providing the assist, to make it 12-3. Whittier responded with back-to-back power-play goals at the 4:48 and 4:16 marks, trimming UCI's lead to 12-5. Declan Murphy then got on the scoresheet at the two-minute mark, netting the first goal of his career off an assist from Verdegaal to push the advantage to 13-5. The Poets added one final power-play goal at 1:28, but the 'Eaters held on to secure the 13-6 victory.

UP NEXT: The 'Eaters are back in action later today as they take on Cal Lutheran to close out the Gary Troyer Invitational at 3:15 p.m. in Claremont, Calif.