In an anticipated game between two Big West schools in a non-conference matchup, the No. 12 ranked CSU Long Beach (17-10, 2-3) defeated the No. 8 ranked UC Irvine Men’s Water Polo team (18-10, 5-0), 15-6, at the Anteater Aquatics Complex on Nov. 15 in front of a capacity crowd. This was the first UC Irvine home athletics event to feature a capacity crowd since March 3, when the UCI Men’s Volleyball team defeated UC San Diego at Crawford Hall and the first capacity crowd for a men’s water polo game since a September 2022 loss to UC Los Angeles.
On Oct. 18, UC Irvine and Long Beach State met each other in a conference game in Long Beach, where the Anteaters escaped with a 13-12 victory.
The victory in Long Beach was part of a larger nine-game winning streak for the ‘Eaters — their best since 2013 — which saw Irvine hit win number nine over Division III Whittier College by a score of 27-11 on Nov. 9 at the Anteater Aquatics Complex.
To begin the Nov. 15 game, both teams had large stops on the defensive end. The first goal came around four minutes into the first quarter, when UCI senior defender Thomas Cass was called for an exclusion, which gave Long Beach a power play opportunity and led to a goal by redshirt sophomore attacker Caleb Francisco. Around one minute later, the Beach added on with another goal from freshman center Corbin Stanley.
To round out the first quarter, Irvine freshman utility Ethan Spoon was called for a foul, which led to a penalty shot that was then converted by Francisco to give the Beach a 3-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Around 90 seconds into the second quarter, the Beach continued to add on with a goal from junior center Alec Johnson, which gave the Beach a 4-0 lead. However, seven seconds later, the Anteaters finally got on the board, as sophomore attacker Alex Lopez scored to cut the lead to 4-1.
The remainder of the second quarter was relatively quiet until the final 90 seconds, when Long Beach State added onto their lead with a goal from Stanley.
It took until the last 15 seconds of the second quarter for UC Irvine to respond, when senior center Tyler Padua scored to reduce the lead for the Beach down to 5-2.
With one second remaining in the second quarter, freshman center Gabi Acosta scored to give the Beach a 6-2 lead. Once the first half of the game came to a close, not only were the Beach ahead by four, but the Anteaters had been kept to under three goals for the first time in the season, signaling that some offensive spark was needed.
However, the ‘Eaters were not able to find that spark, as the Beach started out the third quarter with a 4-0 run. UCI finally came to answer, as redshirt freshman attacker Brody Luke scored to cut the lead to 10-3.
With the score 10-3 following the third quarter, UCI graduate student goalkeeper Jacob Pyle was pulled from the game, following only four saves on 14 shots on goal. His replacement was junior goalkeeper Zayd Mahmoud, who did not fare better and had only one save on six shots on goal.
After an early goal for the Beach, the Anteaters scored for the first time in the fourth quarter, following a power play from a foul by Long Beach senior attacker Evan Cain. UCI junior attacker Luka Krstic was able to capitalize on this and score, cutting Long Beach State’s lead to 11-4.
However, the Beach responded with a two-goal run to go up 13-4. Sophomore attacker Gage Verdegaal responded for UC Irvine, cutting the lead to 13-5.
Long Beach State scored for the final time in the game with another two-goal run. However, with 19 seconds remaining, freshman attacker Jayson Hubbard scored for the Anteaters, leading to a final score of 15-6.
The offensive weapon of the game for the Beach was Francisco, who had five goals. However, the player with the most impact for the Beach was on the defensive end, as senior goalkeeper Aaron Wilson recorded eight saves.
The Anteaters’ struggle to get offense going meant that it was going to be a hard game to win, as even if the team had scored the other eight shots that were saved, they still would have been one goal short. This is a stark contrast from their previous outing, where the Anteaters were able to score 27 goals.
This matchup between the two rivals was not an official game in the Black and Blue Rivalry Series, so Long Beach State did not score any points in the rivalry standings from their victory.
Next up, the Anteaters are set to begin their postseason run on Nov. 23 in the Big West Semifinal against No. 8 Long Beach State at the Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis, Calif.
Jack Fedor is a Sports Editor. He can be reached at jfedor@uci.edu.
Edited by Benjamin Flores and Mia Noergaard