FOLLOW THE GCC ON TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: @GCCWP

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Game one of the 2022 Golden Coast Conference Men's Championships featured offense from start to finish and 13th-ranked UC Irvine, the No. 4 seed, advances to Saturday's first semifinal with a 19-18 win over No. 9 Pepperdine, the fifth seed, Friday night.

GCC LINKS: Box Score | 2022 Championships | 2022 Award Winners | 2022 Standings | 2022 Stats | 2022 Results

The teams combined for 11 goals in the first quarter, 13 in the third quarter and shot a collective 37-for-61 (60.6%). UCI's (15-12) Dylan Patist scored seven goals in the win, five in the first half. Zlatan Nikocevic had a five-point game with four goals and an assist. Pepperdine (13-14) was led by Dennis Blyashov with six goals and a 10-point game from Curtis Jarvis, who had two goals and eight assists. 

The Anteaters, who were the sixth-seed a year ago and haven't been to the semifinals since 2018, advance in the first year of Head Coach Dan Klatt. They will face top-seed and 7th-ranked Pacific in the first semifinal on Saturday at 5 pm. 

Scoring started early and never stopped. Ethan Shipman scored 40 seconds into the game would be tied six times into the second quarter. Pepperdine took a 7-6 lead on a 6-on-5 goal with 5:29 to play in the first half when Kaden Kaneko scored. Patist answerd on the next possession to tie the game at 7-7. It was the start of a four-goal run that saw UC Irvine take a three-goal lead.

Patist made it 8-7 with 3:51 to play and then made it 9-7 at the half when he scored again with just under a minute left in the second quarter. UC Irvine would take on the fourth goal of the run to start the second half when Jack Stevens made it 10-7.

Pepperdine, who mounted several comebacks this season in GCC play, fought back and would find a way to tie the game at 14-14 when Blyashov scored with 54 seconds left in the quarter. Back-to-back goals by the Anteaters would push them to the win.

Nikocvic gave UCI the lead for good, 15-14, on a 6-on-5 goal with :29 left in the quarter and then Patist made it 16-14 to open the fourth quarter. The teams traded goals the rest of the way as UCI kept Pepperdine from getting the equalizer.

#GCCWaterPolo