UCI Treks To NorCal For Pivotal Big West Match With UC Davis; Closes With San Jose State - UCI Athletics
IRVINE, Calif. – No. 8/8 UC Irvine treks to Northern California where they are pitted against fellow undefeated in Big West play No. 10/11 UC Davis (Nov. 1) before heading over to No. 12/13 San Jose State (Nov. 3).Week Nine Notes
THIS WEEKEND
No. 8/8 UC Irvine at No. 10/11 UC Davis
Friday, November 1 | 6:00 PM | Schaal Aquatics Center
Live Stats
No. 8/8 UC Irvine at No. 12/13 San Jose State
Sunday, October 27 | 12:00 PM | SRAC
Live Stats
THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
> UC Irvine enters the week ranked eighth in both the CWPA Weekly Poll and in the Association of College Water Polo Coaches poll
> UCI hits the road for a two-game stretch first stopping at No. 10 UC Davis on Friday Nov. 1 and then heading over to No. 12 San Jose State on Sunday Nov. 3
> Ethan Shipman earned the Anteaters sixth Big West Player of the Week honor of 2024 after scoring the game winning goal against No. 16/15 UC Santa Barbara
> No. 10/11 UC Davis boasts a 9-11 overall record and are 3-0 in the Big West
> Over the last weekend, the Aggies split their matchups, defeating Cal State Fullerton 19-12 on Oct. 25 before dropping to USC 18-10
> The meeting between the two squads will determine a partial share of the Big West regular season championship title
> Aleix Aznar Beltran ranks first on the Aggies with 59 points followed by Thomas Kiesling with 53 with Kiesling holding the top spot in goals scored (42)
> Aznar Beltran was named to the Cutino Award Watch List earlier this month
> Frank Laptin has spent a majority of the time in the cage for UCD recording 92 saves
> No. 12/13 San Jose State heads into the match with a 12-4 overall record, 1-1 in the WCC
> In their last times out, the Spartans collected wins against Fresno Pacific (W, 16-7), Pomona-Pitzer (W, 13-11), and Harvard (W, 17-16)
> Prior to their stop in Irvine, Pepperdine heads to LMU on Friday Oct. 25 and Cal State Fullerton on Saturday Oct. 27
> SJSU swept the WCC Player of the Week awards with Mateja Bosic named as the Player of the Week and Alexey Poletaev as the Newcomer of the Week
PLAYER NOTES
> UC Irvine went 2-0 over the weekend defeating No. 16/15 UC Santa Barbara 14-13 in the eighth period (sudden death) victory before a thrilling 13-12 win over No. 7/10 Pepperdine the following day
> Versus No. 16/15 UC Santa Barbara
- Ethan Shipman notched a hat-trick with his game winning shot to join Jackson Matos and Luka Krstic who also had three-goal games
- Jack Stevens pitched in two goals in the winning effort
- Cole Francisco, Stewart Campbell, and Johann Thrall contributed one goal each
- UC Irvine converted four power play chances to UC Santa Barbara's two
- Zayd Mahmoud recorded 11 saves in the win
- Campbell and Shipman each dished out a game high three assists
- The centers dominated with Ethan Spoon drawing a game best five exclusions, Stevens drew four, and Tyler Padua was credited with three
- Krstic stole the ball three times
> Against No. 7/10 Pepperdine
- Johann Thrall paced the UCI offense behind four goals and an assist for his seventh hat-trick of the season
- Thomas Cass, Stewart Campbell, and Luka Krstic tallied two goals each
- Jackson Matos, Jack Stevens, and Ethan Spoon finished with a goal apiece
- Graduate student Jacob Pyle stopped 13 shots in the win, eight in the first period
- Matos dished a game best two assists along with two steals
- Tyler Padua drew four exclusions while Thrall collected three drawn kickouts
> In the Big West as of Oct. 30, several Anteaters rank in the top-10 in several statistical categories: goals (2nd- Krstic), assists (5th- Shipman, 9th- Verdegaal), points (4th- Krstic), field blocks (1st- Krstic, 3rd- Cass and Matos, 6th- Shipman, 8th- Stevens), sprint wins (5th- Stevens, 9th- Thrall), steals (8th- Francisco), saves (5th- Pyle, 6th- Mahmoud), save percentage (1st- Mahmoud, 7th- Pyle), and goals against average (2nd- Mahmoud, 7th- Pyle)
