Shipman's Passing Nets Big West Opening Win For No. 5 UC Irvine

IRVINE, Calif. – No. 5/7 UC Irvine battled off a fourth period comeback from No. 15/13 UC San Diego to open Big West play with a 12-11 victory on Friday evening.
 
The last three meetings between the Anteaters and the Tritons have been decided by one point, all in favor of UCI.
 
Ethan Shipman was lethal offensively with eight goal contributions (two goals and six assists). The attacker's six dimes are the most by an Anteater since Robby Stiefel did it on September 9, 2017, against LMU.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Stewart Campbell, Luka Krstic, and Ethan Spoon also had multi-score games with two each
• Cole Francisco, Gage Verdegaal, Johann Thrall, and Wyley Dale rounded out the scoring
• UCI was efficient on offense as they converted 50.0 percent of their shots (12-24)
• Zayd Mahmoud collected his fifth win of the season behind 12 saves
• Tyler Padua drew a team high four exclusions while three other Anteaters drew two kickouts
• Krstic led all players with three steals
• No. 15/13 UC San Diego was led by Landon Akerstrom with four goals on six shots and a steal

SCORING BREAKDOWN

• First period: Every time No. 5/7 UC Irvine found the back of the cage, No. 15/13 UC San Diego would roar back with two of their own. Ethan Shipman started the scoring affair when he snuck the ball in low on the near side at 6:41. Nearing the end of the period, Shipman passed the ball over to Gage Verdegaal (1:40) for his classic catch and shoot before the Anteaters trailed 4-2 after eight minutes.
  • Shipman (1) and Verdegaal (1)
• Second period: Continuing to carry the offense for UCI, Shipman went from up top at 5:48. The Anteaters brought it within one point again at 4:38 with a five-meter penalty conversion from Luka Krstic. In the final two minutes of the half, UC Irvine rattled off two goals, the first at 1:55 when Zayd Mahmoud made the stop and then threw the length of the pool for Johann Thrall and the second at 0:33 when Shipman passed down to Wyley Dale who lifted for the push in at the far post, to knot the game 6-all.
  • W. Dale (1), Krstic (1), Shipman (1), and Thrall (1)
• Third period: It was all Anteaters in the third stanza, pouring in four goals and holding the Tritons scoreless. Stewart Campbell received the ball at 7:03 and went for the wrap around shot towards the far post to give UCI their first lead since the first period. Krstic contributed at 5:40, then Campbell went again at 2:37 from the back post. The Ethan's tag teamed for a SportsCenter Top 10-esque play where Shipman fed the ball into Spoon (0:46) for an inside, cross-face goal in the center to push the advantage, 10-6.
  • Campbell (2), Krstic (1), and Spoon (1)
• Fourth period: No. 15/13 UC San Diego threatened every second of the final eight minutes. Two scores early on brought the Tritons within two, 10-8, at 6:37. Semantics from the opponent allowed Ethan Spoon to be fed the ball at 5:55 for a ripping shot on the power play chance. In response to UCSD's score, Cole Francisco grabbed the ball after the ordinary foul, inched his way closer to the cage as the defense was retreating, and placed the ball out of reach at 3:07. A Triton timeout at 0:31 helped to organize a 7-on-6 opportunity in which they eventually scored with 0:22 seconds to make it a one-point game, 12-11. UCI played keep away for the remainder of the game to seal the win.
  • Francisco (1) and Spoon (1)

 
UP NEXT
No. 5/7 UC Irvine continues Big West play at Black and Blue rival No. 9 Long Beach State at 7 p.m. on Friday Oct. 18.