'Eaters Fall, 15-13, in Big West Semifinal - UCI Athletics

IRVINE, Calif. --- UC Irvine men's water polo fell in the Big West Semifinal Saturday afternoon, 15-13, in a loss to 5-seed Long Beach State at UC Davis' Schaal Aquatics Center.

UC Irvine trailed throughout closing the gap to one goal seven times and four times drawing even but could not overcome the deficit. Ethan Shipman found another level with three goals in the final period to lead a late comeback and finish off a four-goal, three-assist afternoon.

Jacob Pyle kept the Anteaters in the match with 11 saves including four in the final period, and Tyler Padua earned six exclusions along with a goal in the match to put the 'Eaters in position. Johann Thrall also had a four-goal day while Jack Stevens scored three goals in the middle period.

The Anteaters sit at 18-9 on the season after their regular season Big West title. They now await their postseason fate with Monday's NCAA Selection Show.

Inside The Numbers

• Johann Thrall and Ethan Shipman each netted four goals with Thrall scoring in three of four periods and Shipman coming on strong late with a fourth-period hat trick
• Jack Stevens made a big push in the middle periods for a three-goal day
• Shipman completed a seven-point day with three assists as well. Luka Krstic also had three assists along with a pair of steals
• UC Irvine had a majority of the shots with 32, but converted just 40.6% of them compared to 51.7% for Long Beach State
• Jacob Pyle had six second-half saves and four in the fourth quarter alone to finish with 11
• Cole Francisco led all players with three steals and added a goal
• Tyler Padua scored the first goal of the day for the 'Eaters and contributed with six exclusions drawn
• The team went 7-for-13 with the extra man while stopping 7-of-11 LBSU chances
• UCI missed its lone penalty opportunity
• Long Beach State spread scoring between nine players with three-goal afternoons from Bruno Chiappini and Gabi Acosta

Scoring Breakdown

• First Quarter: The 'Eaters won the opening sprint but committed turnovers on three of its first five possessions and hit the woodwork on the other two. Meanwhile, LBSU capitalized with a goal on their first possession at 7:38 to go up 1-0. The scoreline stood until an Anteater power play goal from Tyler Padua right at the midway mark of the period to tie things, 1-1. LBSU didn't let that last too long scoring 18 seconds later to get the lead back, 2-1. LBSU's lead grew to 3-1 on a five-meter attempt at 1:24 in the period. UCI quickly drew back to within 2-1 from a Johann Thrall goal at 1:07, and then evened things up 3-3 from another Thrall goal with eight seconds remaining. But LBSU got the final say scoring with one second on the clock to take a 4-3 lead into the break.
  • Thrall (2), Padua (1)
• Second Quarter: Long Beach State took the sprint, but neither side converted right away until UCI tied the score up, 4-4, from Cole Francisco at 6:20. LBSU grabbed the lead back at 5:57, 5-4. The match evened at 3:31 after UCI came back from a timeout heading into a power play buried by Ethan Shipman. The lead went back to LBSU on a power play at 2:56, 6-5 and added another power play goal at 2:07 to get back to a two-goal lead. Jack Stevens drew back to within 7-6 on the next possession, but LBSU countered to go back up, 8-6, at 1:27 as the score held into the half.
  • Francisco (1), Shipman (1), Stevens (1)
• Third Quarter: Third period began with another LBSU sprint win, and they started the scoring at the 6:52 mark, and another at 6:09 on the power play to go up, 10-6. Johann Thrall got the team on the board with his third of the day at 5:38, and the Anteaters grew closer at 3:50 on Jack Stevens' second strike, 10-8. An LBSU penalty at 2:49 gave the 'Eaters a big opportunity, but Luka Krstic's shot sailed wide to keep it a two-goal difference. Long Beach State made them pay with a goal on the other end to make it 11-8. Stevens completed his hat trick shortly after at 2:06 to bring it to 11-9. Jacob Pyle stepped up with big saves for his fifth and sixth of the match late in the quarter, and an exclusion on the other end gave UCI another chance, but LBSU got the kill and scored on the counter to make it a 12-9 game with 55 seconds left as the final scoring of the period.
  • Stevens (2), Thrall (1)
• Fourth Quarter: LBSU opened up the fourth with its third sprint win leading to a goal and a 13-9 lead at 7:37. UCI got it back at the 5:55 mark as Thrall scored his fourth off a corner throw. Another clutch Pyle save led to a counter and power play goal for the 'Eaters at 4:36, but Long Beach State got the goal back at 4:15 to make it 14-11. More Pyle saves kept the 'Eaters in the match as Shipman rewarded the play with a goal at 2:23 to make the deficit 14-12. Shipman completed his fourth-period hat trick with a goal with 55 seconds to go to climb within 14-13. LBSU all but sealed it with a goal in their next possession to go up, 15-13, with 35 seconds to play.
  • Shipman (3), Thrall (1)

Up Next
UC Irvine's Big West Championship run ends in the semifinal and an overall record of 18-9. The NCAA Selection Show is Monday, November 25, at 9:00 a.m. PST where UC Irvine will learn their postseason fate.