'Eaters Head to Long Beach State for Final Big West Showdown of the Regular Season

Friday, November 6

Long Beach, Calif.

7 P.M.

UC Irvine

Long Beach State

Photo by: Jacob Thompson/UC Irvine Athletics

November 05, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

IRVINE, Calif. - The No. 9 UC Irvine men's water polo team is back in action on Friday, Nov. 6, as they travel to No. 12 Long Beach State for its final Big West showdown of the season at 7 p.m.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
UC Irvine moved to 17-7 overall and 2-2 in Big West play after falling to No. 11 UC Santa Barbara last week.
The Anteaters dropped the conference match up to the Gauchos, 10-11, on Friday, Oct. 30.
Wyley Dale. Samuel Bowman, and Johann Thrall each recorded two goals.
Jayson Hubbard dished out a team-high three assists.
Freshman Nico Assalian logged 32 minutes in net and tallied 7 saves.
UC Irvine 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 in 2024.
They also claimed the Big West Championship title and made their first NCAA appearance in 30 years in 2023.

IN THE RANKINGS
UC Irvine dropped to No. 9 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's national rankings released Nov. 4. The Anteaters had held the No. 8 spot in Week 9 and previously claimed the No. 6 ranking for four consecutive weeks after climbing from No. 8 in Week 4. UCI opened the season ranked No. 13, a position it held through the preseason and the first three weekly polls, before breaking into the top 10.

SCOUTING THE BEACH
No. 12 Long Beach State has fallen to 15-8 overall and 1-3 in conference play following back-to-back Big West losses. The Beach dropped an 8-13 decision to No. 12 UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 24 before suffering a narrow 18-19 sudden death defeat to No. 15 California Baptist on Oct. 31. Offensively, junior Olivér Sudár paces the Beach with 80 points on 29 goals and 51 assists, while sophomore Federico Gulisano leads the squad in goals with 58, adding 20 assists for 78 points on the season. In net, senior William Whitstone anchors the Long Beach State defense with over 458 minutes logged, 123 saves, and a 12.43 goals-against average.

SERIES HISTORY
UCI holds an 80-45-1 advantage in the all-time series against Long Beach State, but the Beach has controlled the rivalry in recent years, winning nine of the last 10 matchups between the two programs. The series has been fiercely competitive of late, with three of the last four meetings decided by two goals or fewer. The two squads most recently faced off on Oct. 30, 2025, with Long Beach State edging out the Anteaters, 13-12, in a Big West showdown. The teams met three times during the 2024 season, with UCI claiming a 13-12 Big West victory over the Beach on Oct. 18. Long Beach State responded with a decisive 15-6 win in non-conference action on Nov. 15, before the two programs met once more in the first round of the 2024 Big West Championship, where the Beach eliminated the Anteaters, 15-13.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
The 'Eaters have been a scoring machine this season, finding the back of the net at least 11 times in 21 of their 24 games while averaging 14.5 goals per contest. Four Anteaters have surpassed the 30-goal mark, with Alex Lopez and Johann Thrall leading the charge at 47 goals apiece. Cole Francisco ranks third on the team with 37 goals, while Wyley Dale rounds out UCI's top four scorers with 36. Francisco, Thrall, and Lopez are deadlocked atop the team's points leaderboard with 65 each, with Gage Verdegaal sitting just behind the trio at 62 points, fueled by 25 goals and 37 assists. UCI has also outscored its opponents in every quarter this season, holding a 95-68 advantage in the first, a 75-58 edge in the second, a 92-65 margin in the third, and an 83-67 lead in the fourth.

MINDING THE NET
Freshman Nico Assalian has started 19 of the team's 24 games this season, compiling a 13-5 record. He has played 576 minutes in goal, recording 146 saves, 13 assists, and 20 steals while posting an 10.00 goals-against average and a .448 save percentage. Sophomore Vincent Vega has appeared in nine games, including three starts, totaling over 140 minutes in goal. He has recorded 41 saves, two assists, and two steals, along with a 9.32 goals-against average and a .500 save percentage. Junior Nolan Cary has seen action in five games, making two starts and playing over 51 minutes. He has tallied 15 saves, two steals and posted a .417 save percentage and a 13.13 goals-against average.

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
UCI's freshmen made an immediate impact during their first season of collegiate action. Ryan Fresca has led the group with 23 points on 19 assists and four goals. He opened his career with three points on one goal and two assists against Chapman on Aug. 28 and has recorded two or more assists in five of UCI's first eight games. River Davis ranks second among the newcomers with 14 points on 10 goals and four assists. He scored his first collegiate goal against George Washington on Aug. 28 before adding his second goal and first assist against Concordia the following day for his first multi-point game. Davis became UCI's first freshman this season to record a hat trick, accomplishing the feat against Cal Lutheran on Sept. 4. Aiden Sexton also made an immediate impact, scoring twice and adding two assists against Chapman on Aug. 28 before netting his third goal of the season against Concordia on Aug. 29. He has totaled five points on three goals and two assists. Luke Kalynij scored the first goal of his collegiate career against Chapman on Aug. 28, while Noah Jurgensen recorded his first collegiate assist in his first career minutes against the Panthers. Charlie Jones capped a strong opening weekend for UCI's freshmen with the first two goals of his career, scoring against Chapman and George Washington on Aug. 28 after sitting out the 2025 season. He added two more goals against Cal Lutheran on Sept. 4 for the first multi-goal game of his career. Jones also recorded his first career hat trick against Whittier on Oct. 2.

WEEKLY AWARDS
Alex Lopez picked up his first career Big West Player of the Week honor on Sept. 30. He led the Anteaters to a perfect 3-0 weekend against three ranked opponents, totaling 12 points on seven goals and five assists. Lopez opened the weekend with a five-point performance, scoring four goals and adding an assist in UCI's 13-8 victory over No. 11 LMU on Saturday. Later that day, Lopez contributed one goal and three assists in a four-point effort as the Anteaters edged No. 17 Santa Clara, 14-13. The senior attacker capped the weekend with three points on two goals and one assist in UCI's 11-10 win over No. 18 Navy.

PRESEASON HONORS
Junior Cole Francisco was named to the eight-member Preseason All-Big West Team as voted on by the conference's head coaches. Francisco is coming off a 2025 campaign in which he totaled 69 points on 31 goals and a team-high 38 assists. He is a three-time All-Big West honoree, a two-time Big West Player of the Week selection, and landed on both the CSC Academic All-District At-Large Team and the ACWPC All-Academic Team in the 2025 season.

UP NEXT
The Anteaters close out the regular season at home against No. 13 Pacific on Friday, Nov. 13 at 6 p.m. at Anteater Aquatics Complex.