No. 13 UC Irvine Set for MPSF Invitational

Friday, September 18

Stanford, Calif.

6 P.M.

UC Irvine

UC Davis

Photo by: Jacob Thompson

No. 13 UC Irvine Set for MPSF Invitational

September 16, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

IRVINE, Calif. - The 13th-ranked UC Irvine men's water polo team heads to Stanford, Calif., for the MPSF Invitational, Sept. 18-20. The 'Eaters open the tournament Friday night at 6 p.m. against No. 6 UC Davis. UCI will play two additional games Saturday and one Sunday, with opponents and game times to be determined based on the team's results throughout the tournament.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
UC Irvine went 0-2 against the top-two teams in the country this weekend.
The Anteaters fell to No. 1 UCLA by just two goals, 16-14, on Friday afternoon.
The 'Eaters dropped to No. 2 USC. 24-15, on Saturday afternoon.
Junior Cole Francisco led the offense with nine points on four goals and five assists, adding one steal.
Senior Wyley Dale and junior Brody Luke each recorded seven points on four goals and three assists.
Sophomore Vincent Vega logged 48 minutes in net with 17 saves and one steal.
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 remains ranked No. 13 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's national rankings, released Sept. 16. The 'Eaters held steady at No. 13 after being ranked 13th in the preseason, Week one, and Week two polls.

SCOUTING THE AGGIES
No. 6 UC Davis begins the 2026 season with a 7-3 record after falling to No. 4 Cal, 19-7, on Sept. 13. The Aggies went 4-1 at the Aggie Roundup the previous weekend, defeating Cuesta College, No. 18 Harvard, UC Merced and American River College, with their lone loss coming to No. 1 UCLA, 14-10. Freshman Lucas Wulfhorst leads UC Davis with 35 points on 28 goals and seven assists, while sophomore Oriol Viñas has added 26 points on 12 goals and 14 assists. Junior William McKeon and redshirt junior Baxter Chelsom have split time in goal, with McKeon recording 53 saves, 19 steals and eight assists, and Chelsom tallying 34 saves and three steals.

SERIES HISTORY
The 'Eaters and Aggies have a long history, with UC Davis competing alongside UCI in the Big West through the 2025 season. With UC Davis no longer competing in the Big West this season, the two teams will meet as former conference opponents. UCI fell to UC Davis, 15-12, on Oct. 10 last year, but earned a 12-11 victory in the 2024 meeting on Nov. 1. The 'Eaters also prevailed in 2023, edging the Aggies, 13-12, in overtime on Oct. 28. Later that season, UCI defeated UC Davis, 11-10, in the first round of the Big West Championship on Nov. 18 en route to the conference title. In 2022, the Aggies topped the 'Eaters, 14-12, in double overtime at the MPSF Invitational on Sept. 23. With the teams splitting their recent meetings and several matchups decided by one or two goals, including two overtime contests, the series has featured consistently close competition.

OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
The 'Eaters have scored at least 12 goals in each of their first 10 games this season, averaging 15.8 goals per game. Eight UCI players have already reached double-digit goal totals through the first three weeks. Senior Wyley Dale and senior Johann Thrall lead the team with 19 goals apiece, with Dale totaling 24 points on five assists and Thrall adding seven assists for 21 points. Senior Gage Verdegaal leads the 'Eaters with 27 points, ranking third with 16 goals and adding 11 assists. Junior Ethan Spoon has tallied 15 goals, while juniors Cole Francisco and Brody Luke have each added 13. Senior Alex Lopez has 11 goals, and sophomore Ben Atkinson rounds out the group with 10. Verdegaal, Thrall and Dale have each recorded three hat tricks to open the season.

MINDING THE NET
Freshman Nico Assalian has started five of the team's 10 games this season, compiling a 4-1 record. He has played 176 minutes in goal, recording 48 saves, seven assists, and six steals while posting an 10.00 goals-against average and a .466 save percentage. Sophomore Vincent Vega has appeared in four games, including three starts, totaling 96 minutes in goal. He has recorded 30 saves, two assists, and two steals, along with a 8.33 goals-against average and a .545 save percentage. Junior Nolan Cary has seen action in four games, making two starts and playing 48 minutes. He has tallied 14 saves, two steals and posted a .412 save percentage and a 13.33 goals-against average.

COLLEGIATE FIRSTS
UCI's freshmen made an immediate impact during their first three weeks of collegiate action. Ryan Fresca has led the group with 13 points on 12 assists and one goal. 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 eight points on six goals and two 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.

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 travel to Palo Alto, Calif., for the MPSF Invitational, a three-day tournament taking place Sept. 18-20.