Cardinal escapes UCI trap

Steve Virgen

“That was our game,” and “Right at the end they took it from us,”

was what UC Irvine players Jeff Powers and Garrett Gentry said after

the Anteaters’ men’s water polo team suffered a 9-8 Mountain Pacific

Sports Federation loss to top-ranked Stanford in front of an overflow

crowd at UCI Friday night.

The fifth-ranked Anteaters (10-6, 1-2 in the MPSF) led, 8-7, with

2:39 left, after sophomore Dreason Barry scored on a 6-on-5

situation. But, the Cardinal (17-2, 4-1) stormed back, as Stanford

sophomore standout Tony Azevedo scored his fifth and final goal on an

extra-man opportunity with 44 seconds left for the game-winner.

“We handed them the game,” said UCI senior Jeff Powers, who scored

two goals and fired off the Anteaters’ final shot that was saved by

goalie Nick Ellis with 10 seconds left.

Gentry led the ‘Eaters with three goals, while UCI’s bread and

butter, Powers and Barry, scored two goals each, and Dan Noon added

one. UCI senior goalie Doug Finfrock recorded six saves, including a

big stop when he slapped away Jeff Nesmith’s open shot at two meters.

The game featured seven ties, four lead changes, and what longtime

UCI Coach Ted Newland said was the largest crowd ever for a men’s

water polo game at the Anteater Aquatic Complex. The game also marked

the return of Stanford Coach John Vargas, who was an NCAA

All-American at UCI in 1982, when the Anteaters won the national

championship with an undefeated record (30-0).

“I hate losing to him,” said Gentry, who played under Vargas while

at Corona del Mar High. “I have so much respect for him. I just had a

lot of emotion. (Stanford is) very beatable.”

Gentry’s intensity was displayed from the outset as he scored

three goals in the first quarter, when UCI built a 3-2 lead. He

started off with an outside shot with 5:08 left in the first quarter,

that tied the score, 1-1. He found the back of the cage again when he

scored from the wing on an extra-man opportunity, that tied the game

again, 2-2.

Gentry collected his third and final goal of the game with 2:10

left in the opening period that gave the Anteaters a 3-2 lead.

“That was a great display of shooting on his part,” Vargas said of

Gentry.

Newland said the difference in the game was the 6-on-5

opportunities. Stanford had more of them. The Cardinal scored four

out of seven when they were a man up, while the Anteaters scored on

three out of their four chances.

“That was an intense game,” Newland said. “(The Anteaters) came to

play tonight. I have no qualms. We made some mistakes and they made

some mistakes. We made some great plays and so did they. It was just

a great game. It was fun.”

Vargas also thought the game was thrilling.

“Both teams played hard,” Vargas said. “Newland had his guys well

prepared. The whole game was just back and forth action.”

The largest lead of the night was when UCI went ahead, 4-2, with

5:50 left in the second quarter, after Barry flipped a backhand,

left-handed shot from set with two defenders on each side of him.

But, Stanford answered with goals by Peter Hudnut and Azevedo to

catch the Anteaters at 4.

Before the first half ended, Powers left the crowd buzzing with a

skip shot from about 10 meters out that gave UCI a 5-4 lead at

halftime.

After Azevedo scored on a breakaway, 6-on-5 opportunity 28 seconds

into the second half, the Anteaters held the Stanford star scoreless

over the next 12 minutes and 48 seconds. But Azevedo came through at

the end, scoring about one second after the Cardinal earned an

extra-man situation.

“He does it all,” Vargas said of his standout, Azevedo. “He does

so many things out there, it’s amazing.”

The Anteaters return to MPSF action Sunday at noon, when they host

No. 5 USC.

“Because of this game we are going to come into Sunday with a

positive attitude,” Powers said.

MOUNTAIN PACIFIC SPORTS FEDERATION

Stanford 9, UC Irvine 8

Score by Quarters

Stanford 2 2 2

3 -- 9

UC Irvine 3 2 2

1 -- 8

Stanford -- Azevedo 5, Hudnut 3, Hopkins 1. Saves --

Ellis 7.

UC Irvine -- Gentry 3, Powers 2, Barry 2, Noon 1. Saves

-- Finfrock 6.