Top-Seeded UC Irvine Prepped For Big West Championship - UCI Athletics
There will be no live stream of the Big West Championship until the title game. Fans can follow along through live state on TheFosh.net.
Big West Semifinal Notes
THIS WEEKEND
[1] UC Irvine vs. [5] Long Beach State
Saturday, November 23 | 12:00 PM | Schaal Aquatics Center
Live Stats | Tickets | Championship Central
THIS WEEK'S STORYLINES
> UC Irvine enters the week ranked eighth in the CWPA Weekly Poll and ninth in the Association of College Water Polo Coaches poll
> UCI closed out the regular season with an 18-8 overall record, 5-0 in the Big West for their second consecutive winning season in league action
> The Anteaters defended their Big West regular season title in 2024 as they did not drop a conference contest
> It is the first time UC Irvine has won back-to-back regular season crowns since the 1982-83 seasons
> UCI earned the first round bye in the Big West Championship entering the competition on Saturday (Nov. 23) with a semifinal match-up with fifth-seeded Long Beach State
> The Beach routed [4] UC Santa Barbara, 12-9, on Friday afternoon to earn a spot in the semifinal round
> UC Irvine and Long Beach State have split their meetings this season with the Anteaters claiming the 13-12 win in conference action before the Beach defeated UCI 15-6 in the regular season non-conference finale
> LBSU enters Saturday's matinee on a three-game win streak
> Gabi Acosta leads LBSU in goals scored with 58
> Corbin Stanley (48) and Evan Cain (47) are both past the 40-goal season mark
> Caleb Francisco, the brother of Anteater Cole Francisco, is on a hot streak as he is coming off back-to-back career games. He posted five goals against UCI and then poured in six in the quarterfinal match-up with UCSB
> Marc Frigola and Bruno Chiappini are first and fourth in the conference in assists with 40 and 35, respectively
> Aaron Wilson and Liam Ward split time in the cage for the Beach
> Wilson leads with 150 saves and Ward has collected 120 on the year
> Ward played all 32 minutes in the 12-9 win over the Gauchos where he recorded five saves
PLAYER NOTES
> UC Irvine dropped their regular season finale, 15-6, to Black and Blue rival, then No. 12/9 Long Beach State on Friday Nov. 15
> Against Long Beach State
- Six UCI players scored in the contest
- Johann Thrall and Jasper Dale dished out an assist each
- Jacob Pyle played the first three periods where he made four saves
- Zayd Mahmoud came into the cage for the remaining eight minutes to block a shot
- Tyler Padua drew a game best five exclusions
- Luka Krstic stole the ball twice, a game high
> In the Big West as of Nov. 21, several Anteaters rank in the top-10 in several statistical categories: goals (3rd- Krstic, 5th- Thrall)), assists (5th- Shipman), points (3rd- Krstic, 7th- Thrall), field blocks (1st- Krstic, 5th- Cass, Matos and Shipman, 10th- Stevens), sprint wins (3rd- Stevens, 9th- Thrall, 10th- Krstic), steals (6th- Francisco), saves (5th- Pyle, 6th- Mahmoud), save percentage (2nd- Mahmoud, 7th- Pyle), and goals against average (3rd- Mahmoud, 7th- Pyle)
