UC IRVINE NOTES / JOHN WEYLER : Water Polo Team Faces Major Test Early

UC Irvine’s water polo team will be jumping into hot water this week, and the Anteaters figure to have a good idea where they stand against the nation’s best by the end of the weekend.

Irvine plays host to Stanford, rated No. 1 in the coaches’ preseason poll, at Corona del Mar High’s Marian Bergeson Aquatic Center at 7 tonight. And then they will be back in the same pool Saturday and Sunday, competing in the Newport SeaFest Tournament, which features all of the top 10 teams, including the Cardinal, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Cal and No. 4 Pepperdine.

Irvine opens Saturday against Air Force at 8:10 a.m., then plays Cal at 12:50 p.m. Championship and consolation semifinals are Sunday.

The championship game is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Anteaters, who were 18-11 last year and finished fourth in the NCAA tournament, are ranked fifth this season, but they are a young team with a number of holes. Their top three scorers, including All-American Marc Hunt, are gone, as is All-American goaltender Mike Rall.

Peter Muller, the only senior on the team, scored 30 points last year and will counted on to carry some of the offensive burden. Junior Jeremy Storton, who has played only five games in goal over the last two years, will inherit the bulk of the goaltending duties.

Coach Ted Newland, the winningest coach in the NCAA with a 562-213-5 record, was Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year in 1993 and figures will have to work magic again in his 29th year as Irvine coach to keep the Anteaters in the top five for the 20th time in the last 23 years.