Anteaters Rise to No. 8, Host UCI Mini Tournament

Saturday, September 26

Irvine, Calif.

10:20 A.M.

UC Irvine

LMU

Photo by: Regents of the University of California

Anteaters Rise to No. 8, Host UCI Mini Tournament

September 24, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

IRVINE, Calif. - The 8th-ranked UC Irvine men's water polo team returns home to the Anteater Aquatics Complex to host the UCI Mini Tournament on Sept. 26 before closing out the weekend against Navy on Sept. 27. The 'Eaters welcome LMU (10:20 a.m.), Santa Clara (3 p.m.) and Navy (10 a.m., Sept. 27) to Anteater Aquatics Complex for a four-game slate featuring four matches on Saturday and an individual matchup on Sunday.

ANTEATER TIDBITS
UC Irvine went 2-2 with two upset victories at the MPSF Invitational this weekend.
The Anteaters defeated former conference for No. 6 UC Davis, 14-10, on Friday
The 'Eaters dropped to No. 4 Cal, 8-16. and No. 9 UC San Diego, 9-11, on Saturday
UCI topped No. 11 San Jose State, 15-14, in an overtime thriller to complete their second upset of the weekend.
Senior Alex Lopez led the offense with 14 points on 11 goals and three assists.
Senior Gage Verdegaal recorded 15 points on four goals an 11 assists.
Freshman Nico Assalian logged 128 minutes in net with 36 saves, nine assists, 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 moved up to No. 8 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association's national rankings, released Sept. 23. The 'Eaters had been ranked 13th in every poll since the preseason rankings before jumping five spots after completing two statement upsets.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
No. 11 LMU went 2-2 at the MPSF Invitational last weekend to move to 6-4 overall. The Lions opened the weekend with a 9-20 loss to No. 4 Cal on Friday before bouncing back with wins over No. 6 UC Davis, 11-8, and No. 11 Pepperdine, 15-14, on Saturday. LMU closed out the Invitational with a narrow 9-10 loss to No. 8 Princeton. Luka Dimic led the Lions offensively, scoring four goals against the Golden Bears, two against the Aggies and three against the Waves before adding another goal against the Tigers. Asher Smith added three goals against both UC Davis and Pepperdine. The 'Eaters defeated LMU in their first meeting of 2025, earning a 15-14 victory on Aug. 29. The Lions responded later in the season, handing UCI an 11-14 loss on Sept. 19.

No. 17 Santa Clara went 1-3 at the MPSF Invitational to move to 7-4 overall. The Broncos opened the weekend with a 4-21 loss to No. 3 Stanford on Friday before falling to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, 13-15, and No. 16 California Baptist, 11-16, on Saturday. Santa Clara closed out the weekend with its lone victory, defeating Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 12-10, on Sunday. Riccardo De Simon leads the Broncos with 26 points on 21 goals and five assists this season, while Imme van der Schaaf has added 22 points on 13 goals and nine assists. In goal, Harrison Labrosse leads Santa Clara with 38 saves, 13 steals and three assists, while posting a 10.55 goals-against average across 182 minutes. UCI and Santa Clara have not met since Sept. 24, 2023, when the 'Eaters earned an 11-10 victory over the Broncos.

No. 18 Navy went 2-1 at the Princeton Invitational, held Sept. 12-13, to improve to 7-1 overall. The Midshipmen opened the weekend with a narrow 15-16 loss to No. 12 Princeton before defeating LIU on Sept. 12. Navy closed out the tournament with a 17-13 victory over No. 18 Harvard on Sept. 13. Declan Bartlett and Quinn Bartlett lead the Midshipmen with 17 goals apiece this season. Declan has added four assists for 21 points, while Quinn has five assists for 22 points. In goal, Ryan Munch leads Navy with 47 saves. Before facing the 'Eaters on Sunday, Navy will take on Air Force on Sept. 24 before meeting Santa Clara and LMU on Sept. 26.
OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER
The 'Eaters have scored at least 12 goals in 12 of their 14 outings this season, averaging 14.5 goals per game. Four players have already reached the 20-goal mark, led by Johann Thrall's 25. Alex Lopez and Wyley Dale have each scored 22, while Gage Verdegaal rounds out the group with 20. Lopez has surpassed his previous career high of 19 goals, set last season. Verdegaal also leads the team in both assists and points, with 22 assists and 42 total points. Thrall has recorded five hat tricks this season, while Verdegaal and Dale have four apiece and Lopez has one.

MINDING THE NET
Freshman Nico Assalian has started nine of the team's 14 games this season, compiling a 5-3 record. He has played 304 minutes in goal, recording 84 saves, eight assists, and 15 steals while posting an 10.42 goals-against average and a .459 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 Claremont, Calif., for the Gary Troyer Invitational on Oct. 2. UCI will face Whittier (11:30 a.m.) and Cal Lutheran (3:15 p.m.).