Irvine’s Big Splash : Water Polo: Anteaters, ranked second in nation, have high hopes entering NCAA tournament this weekend.

For the first time since 1985, UC Irvine has a realistic chance of winning the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. water polo championship.

Four years ago, Stanford defeated the Anteaters, 11-10, in overtime in the championship game. Irvine is back this time around with a veteran team that is ranked second in the nation heading into the NCAA championships, which will be Friday through Sunday in Indianapolis. The Anteaters are three victories away from the national championship, or, given the state of NCCA water polo, the California championship.

California teams have dominated the NCAA water polo tournament since its inception in 1969. No other state has even had a team reach the finals.

But the NCAA tries hard each year to make sure the event is more than a state championship by inviting two non-California teams. The NCAA also makes periodic attempts to expose the sport to the outlanders, such as this year’s final at Indianapolis, only the third time the event has been out of California.

This year, Irvine (24-6), by virtue of its second seeding, draws Arkansas-Little Rock (19-2), the No. 7 seed and ranked 12th in the final poll, in Friday’s first round. It allows the Anteaters an easier match before a likely meeting with No. 3-seeded Stanford in Saturday’s semifinals.

“If we lose to them (Arkansas-Little Rock), we shouldn’t ever have been there,” Irvine Coach Ted Newland said.

Newland, in his 24th year at Irvine, said his team is among five with a chance to win in the field of eight. Newland said any team can win among top-seeded California (24-3), Stanford (26-7), and Big West Conference tri-champions No. 2 Irvine (24-6), No. 4 Pepperdine (23-6) and No. 5 Cal State Long Beach (18-8).

Irvine has beaten each of those teams at least once, but it also has lost to each of them at least once. Two of the Anteaters’ three matches with Cal have been decided by a single goal.

Newland, who has coached the Anteaters into 17 of the 20 previous NCAA tournaments and to two championships, said the title will go to the team that gets hot at the right time.

“We’re going to have to be up for every game,” Newland said. “We are going to have to do everything right because it is so damn close.”

The Anteaters have Chris Duplanty, who stopped 245 shots on goal during the regular season and was the backup goalie for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, which won the silver medal.

The Anteaters’ offense is led by seniors Tom Warde, Julian Harvey and Dan Smoot, who have scored 92, 75 and 54 goals, respectively, this season.

UCI KEY PLAYERS

Chris Duplanty

In goal for the Anteaters is Chris Duplanty, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound, senior from Honolulu, the reserve goalkeeper for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. One of three Irvine players to be a first-team All-Big West Conference selection, Duplanty is likely the best goalkeeper at the collegiate level, Coach Ted Newland said.

Tom Warde

Irvine’s leading scorer with 92 goals, Tom Warde, a 6-1, 185-pound senior from Pacifica High School is another all-conference player. Newland said Warde, who usually sets the hole for the Anteaters, is the strongest player he has ever coached.

Julian Harvey

At 6-2 and 190 pounds, Julian Harvey, a senior from Laguna Hills High School is Irvine’s second-leading scorer with 75 goals. Harvey, who also was named to the all-conference team, is a member of the U.S. national team.

Dan Smoot

A senior from Tustin High School, scored 54 goals this season and was a second-team all-conference selection. Newland said Smoot, 6-1, 170, is among the teams’ faster swimmers.

NCAA WATER POLO

Water polo is a simple game: two teams try to score by throwing a rubber ball into the opponent’s goal. A team consists of a goalie and six field players. The goalie can handle the ball with two hands, but the field players must use only one hand at a time. A player can swin up to two miles per game. A game consists of four seven-minute quarters.

TYPES OF FOULS

The referee must immediately decide whether to call a violation or whether to let it go, depending on the intensity of the foul. Listed below are some of the minor and major fouls. 1. Ordinary fouls: Preventing free movement of an opponent (unless holding the ball), and when they occur a free pass is allowed. 2. Major fouls: Pulling an offensive player back with two hands. The player receives a 45-second ejection from the game. 3. Major fouls: Sinking an offensive player is a major foul and the player is ejected for 45 seconds. This gives the offensive team a one-man advantage.

The ball: A water polo ball is basically the same size and shape as a volleyball. It is made of yellow rubber for greater visibility.

PAST CHAMPIONSHIPS

NCAA CHAMPTIONS SINCE 1969 Cal*: 8 Stanford: 6 UCLA: 3 UCI: 2 UCSB: 1 * Cal was the 1988 NCAA champion

Source: The Complete Book of Water Polo and the NCAA