LONG BEACH -- The third annual Golden Coast Conference Men's Water Polo Championships started with a classic as 14th-ranked and No. 4 seed UC Irvine scored three goals in the final 2:35 of the game to lift them to a 10-8 win in the first round match-up against No. 5 seed and 19th-ranked San Jose State on Friday afternoon at Lindgren Aquatics Center.
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UC Irvine jumped out to a 3-0 lead just two minutes into the game. However, San Jose State stayed close thank to their second-team All-GCC goalie Yahav Fire and they managed to fight back.
Fire had 10 of his 13 saves at the half and the Spartans, who trailed the entire game, managed to tie the game on the final shot of the third quarter by Justin Pickering. They would then take the lead at 7-6 with 7:04 to play in the game on a goal by Neil Arnett.
The Anteaters Casey Lynton, who led the team with four goals, tied the game at 7-7 with 5:30 to play. San Jose State answered again, taking an 8-7 lead on a goal by Mark Weber with just 2:50 to play.
From there UCI's upperclassmen took over. Senior Jack Trush, a first-team All-GCC selection would tie the game at 6-6 just 15 seconds later to tie the game 9-8.
After the Anteaters forced a turnover, Byrant Joudrie scored his third goal of the game in what would be the game winner with 1:44 to play. Trush would add his third of the game with 57 seconds to play to push UCI to Saturday's semifinals.
They will face top-seed Pacific at 1 pm.