No. 13 Anteaters Down George Washington, 13-9, at UCI Invitational

Friday, August 28

Irvine, Calif.

2:20 P.M.

UC Irvine

2-0

George Washington University

1-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
George Washington	3	2	3	1	9
UC Irvine	5	4	1	3	13

Photo by: Jacob Thompson

No. 13 Anteaters Down George Washington, 13-9, at UCI Invitational

August 28, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 13 UC Irvine men's water polo earned a 13-9 victory over George Washington University Friday afternoon in the second game of the day at the UCI Invitational at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.

The Anteaters (1-0) jumped out to a 5-3 lead after the opening quarter, fueled by strong offensive play from Gage Verdegaal and Cole Francisco. UCI continued to build its advantage in the second frame, outscoring the Revolutionaries, 4-2, to take a 9-5 lead into halftime. George Washington responded with a strong third quarter, holding the Anteaters to one goal while scoring three of its own to pull within two, 10-8. UCI regained control in the final frame, allowing just one goal while scoring three to secure the 13-9 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS: Gage Verdegaal led the Anteater offense with a hat trick, while Johann Thrall added two goals.

Wyley Dale, Cole Francisco, Samuel Bowman, Brody Luke, Ethan Spoon, Ben Atkinson, River Davis and Charlie Jones each added one goal. Davis' goal marked the first of his collegiate career.

In the cage, Nico Assalian recorded 12 saves, two assists and one steal in his second collegiate start.

Andrea Forno paced George Washington with three goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED Cole Francisco opened the scoring for the Anteaters with an assist from Ryan Fresca at the 7:07 mark. George Washington answered on a five-meter penalty shot after Ben Atkinson was whistled for a penalty to even the score at 1-1. Verdegaal quickly put UCI back in front, finding the back of the net with an assist from Francisco. The Revolutionaries tied the game again at 5:20 before Verdegaal struck for his second of the period at 5:05, assisted by Dylan Rosmann. Samuel Bowman extended the lead to 4-2 at the 4:14 mark with another assist from Rosmann. George Washington cut the deficit to one with 2:38 remaining, but Wyley Dale drew an exclusion that set up River Davis for his first career goal on the ensuing power play at 2:03. The Anteaters carried a 5-3 lead into the second quarter.

Verdegaal completed his hat trick just 44 seconds into the second period, with an assist from Ben Youngblood, to push the lead to 6-3. Ethan Spoon added another at the 6:00 mark, assisted by Assalian. George Washington answered less than 20 seconds later to pull within three. Charlie Jones restored UCI's four-goal advantage at 4:30 with an assist from Fresca. Francisco then drew an exclusion, leading to a power-play goal from Atkinson, assisted by Bowman, at 3:44. The Revolutionaries scored on the man advantage with 2:13 remaining, sending the Anteaters into halftime with a 9-5 lead.

George Washington came out strong after the break, scoring twice at 4:40 and 2:45 while holding UCI to just one goal. Dale halted the run with a goal at 2:24, assisted by Tyler Laymon. The Revolutionaries added another power-play goal with 44 seconds remaining to cut the Anteater lead to 10-8 entering the final frame.

UCI responded when Johann Thrall drew an exclusion and converted on the ensuing power play at the 6:14 mark. Thrall struck again just 43 seconds later, this time assisted by Assalian, to extend the lead to 12-8. George Washington answered at 4:16, but Maddox McEwen drew a penalty moments later to set up Brody Luke for a penalty-shot goal. The tally sealed the Anteaters' 13-9 victory.

UP NEXT
The Anteaters return to action Saturday, Aug. 29, for the final day of the UCI Invitational. UCI will face No. 3 Stanford and Concordia.