Irvine, Calif. – A sudden death goal by Tyler Padua of UC Irvine led the Anteaters to a 17-16 double overtime win over the Pacific men's water polo team on Saturday afternoon.
The loss is the third straight for Pacific, who fell to 9-11 overall and 3-2 in the GCC. The win for UC Irvine raised the Anteaters' record to 8-11 overall and 1-3 in the GCC. There was plenty of offensive effort in the contest as the Tigers'
Mihailo Vukazic scored a goal and assisted on six.
Bogdan Djerkovic and
Reuel D'Souza each scored four goals and
Jeremie Cote had three in the loss for Pacific. Tigers' goalkeeper
John Hedges had 19 saves in the loss.
The Anteaters were led by the four goal, three assist performance by Dylan Patist in the win. Teammate Zlatan Nikocevic also had four goals and three assists, plus Casey Lynton had a goal and five assists. UCI goalkeeper Harrison Land had 15 saves in 41 minutes between the posts.
Both teams scored a goal in the second overtime to set the stage for the sudden death period. The Anteaters won the sprint to begin the sudden death period as Tyler Padua scored the game-winning goal from the top of the cage.
Second Overtime
• Neither team was able to get on the scoreboard to force sudden death.
First Overtime
• Grant Chiponis got UC Irvine on the scoreboard before the Tigers'
Mihailo Vukazic got his lone goal of the contest with :41 left in the extra period to tie the contest at 16.
Fourth Quarter
• Both teams had chances in the closing seconds of regulation before defensive efforts and strong goalie play forced overtime.
• The two teams each scored three goals with the Anteaters' scoring twice in a 53-second span to tie the contest.
Third Quarter
• UC Irvine outscored Pacific by a 4-1 margin to erase an 11-8 halftime lead by the Tigers.
• The lone goal for the Tigers came from
Bogdan Djerkovic.
Second Quarter
• The two teams combined for 11 goals with UC Irvine cutting into the Pacific lead with a six-goal effort.
• The Tigers'
Jeremie Cote and
Bogdan Djerkovic each scored twice for Pacific.
First Quarter
• After an Anteater goal,
Matthew Hosmer found the back of the net on a pair of occasions to stretch the lead to 5-1.
• Goals by D'Souza, Djerkovic and Stanic gave the Tigers an early 3-0 lead.
With the GCC Championships two weeks away, Pacific will wrap up the regular season with a trip to UC Davis on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m. Earlier this season, the Aggies defeated the Tigers by an 11-6 margin in the first game of the Aggie Invite on Friday, Sept. 17.
