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
