No. 13 UCI Caps Perfect Inland Empire Classic With 12-8 Win Over Pomona-Pitzer

Saturday, September 5

Claremont, Calif.

2 P.M.

UC Irvine

Pomona-Pitzer

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Final F
UC Irvine	0	3	2	3	4	12
Pomona-Pitzer	0	1	3	2	2	8

Nico Assalian - UCI vs. Stanford 8-29-26

Photo by: Robert Huskey

No. 13 UCI Caps Perfect Inland Empire Classic With 12-8 Win Over Pomona-Pitzer

September 05, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

By: Leah Fitzpatrick

IRVINE, Calif – No. 13 UC Irvine men's water polo defeated Pomona-Pitzer, 12-8, in the final game of the Inland Empire Classic on Saturday afternoon.

The 'Eaters held the Sagehens to just one goal in the opening quarter while scoring three of their own to take an early 3-1 lead. Pomona-Pitzer outscored UCI, 3-2, in the second quarter, but the Anteaters maintained a one-goal advantage, 5-4, heading into halftime. UCI regained momentum in the third, outscoring the Sagehens, 3-2, to carry an 8-6 lead into the final frame. The 'Eaters then erupted for three unanswered goals to open the fourth quarter and outscored Pomona-Pitzer, 4-2, in the period to pull away and secure the 12-8 victory.

BY THE NUMBERS: Seniors Gage Verdegaal and Johann Thrall, along with sophomore Ben Atkinson, led the 'Eaters with two goals apiece.

Alex Lopez, Wyley Dale, Cole Francisco, Samuel Bowman, Ethan Spoon, and Jayson Hubbard each added one goal.

Freshman Nico Assalian made six saves and recorded one assist in net.

Jake Lee paced the Sagehens with two goals.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Ben Atkinson opened the scoring for the 'Eaters at the 2:44 mark, giving UCI an early 1-0 lead. Samuel Bowman doubled the advantage at 1:54 with an assist from Jayson Hubbard. The Sagehens got on the board with 16 seconds remaining to cut UCI's lead to 2-1, but Ethan Spoon quickly answered, finding the back of the net off an assist from Bowman with just two seconds left in the quarter to send the Anteaters into the second with a 3-1 advantage.

Gage Verdegaal struck first in the second quarter, finding the back of the net at the 5:02 mark off an assist from Cole Francisco to extend UCI's lead to 4-1. The Sagehens quickly answered with a goal at 4:35 to cut the deficit to two, 4-2, before adding a power-play goal at 2:36 to pull within one. The 'Eaters responded when Tyler Laymon drew an exclusion, setting up Johann Thrall to convert on the ensuing power play at the two-minute mark with an assist from Francisco. Pomona-Pitzer scored the final goal of the half with 26 seconds remaining, trimming UCI's lead to 5-4 heading into halftime.

The 'Eaters quickly opened the scoring in the third quarter when Jayson Hubbard found the back of the net at the 7:15 mark, with an assist from Nico Assalian. UCI extended its lead after Thrall drew a penalty and Francisco capitalized on the ensuing man advantage at 5:20 to make it 7-4. The Sagehens answered at 4:08 to cut the deficit to two, 7-5, but Alex Lopez restored the three-goal cushion with 20 seconds remaining, scoring off an assist from Laymon. Pomona-Pitzer found the back of the net with just two seconds left in the period to pull within two, 8-6, heading into the fourth.

UCI opened the fourth quarter with three unanswered goals to pull away from the Sagehens. Atkinson struck on the man advantage at the 6:37 mark, finding the back of the net off an assist from Verdegaal after Spoon drew an exclusion. Thrall added another goal at 5:11 before Dale scored at 3:28 to extend the 'Eaters' lead to 11-6. The Sagehens answered with a goal at 3:07, but Verdegaal quickly responded, scoring off an assist from McGann at the 2:42 mark. Pomona-Pitzer added the final goal of the game on a penalty shot with 19 seconds remaining, but the 'Eaters' fourth-quarter surge proved decisive as UCI secured the 12-8 victory.

UP NEXT: The 'Eaters are back at Anteater Aquatics Complex on Friday, Sept. 11, to host No. 1 UCLA at 2 p.m.