Sports In Brief

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Men’s Water Polo
UC Irvine (14-10) fell to UC San Diego in a heartbreaking 12-11 loss in La Jolla on Thursday night in a non-conference meeting. Justin Papa and Jacob Mourner scored three goals apiece, but it was not enough for no. 9 UCI to come out ahead over its tenth-ranked opponent. The ’Eaters led 7-5 at the half after Papa and Mourner each scored two goals, but the Tritons (14-7) made it 9-9 all in the third quarter. At the start of the final frame, Irvine’s Alan Robertson and Nick Pfeil gave the ’Eaters an 11-9 advantage before San Diego came within one with a little over four minutes remaining. With just 1:44 left on the clock, the Tritons tied it 11-11 and clenched the victory with less than 30 seconds left to play. UCI goalkeeper Alex Kazmier totaled 13 saves in goal while Robertson and Pfiel scored two goals for the ’Eaters.

Men’s Cross Country
At the NCAA West Regional in Seattle on Friday, senior Rex Nelson finished first for the ’Eaters with a time of 30:40 for a 58th place finish out of 185 participants. UCI’s Alex Tebbe placed 70th in 30:56, Sam Hyams placed 91st in 31:17 and Steven Melena placed 117th with a time of 31:53. With 465 points, Irvine finished 17th. Opponents Stanford and Portland finished first and second place respectively and received the automatic berths to the NCAA Championship that will take place on Nov. 17 in Louisville, Kentucky.

Women’s Cross Country
Redshirt sophomore Colleen Lillig crossed the finish line first for UCI in the NCAA West Regional at Jefferson Park Gold Course on Friday. Lillig finished 85th out of 207 runners with a time of 21:25. With 645 points, UCI placed 22nd in the team competition, while Oregon and Stanford will automatically advance to the NCAA Championship. Irvine Senior Chloe Fata placed 123rd in 21:57, Kaycee Holcomb placed 133rd in 22:05 and Camille Maron placed 155th in 22:22.