Anteaters Beat Stanford in Opener

UC Irvine was in a familiar position Friday night at the end of the first quarter in the opening round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s water polo tournament at the Los Alamitos Reserve Center.

The top-ranked Anteaters were tied, 1-1, with Stanford.

“Sometimes it takes a goal from the other team, or maybe we are down a goal at the end of the first quarter to make us realize that we have to get going and play harder,” Irvine goalkeeper Dan Hipp said.

That was the case Friday, as Irvine went on to score eight consecutive goals on its way to a 10-6 victory that advances the Anteaters to a semifinal against California at 5 o’clock tonight. In the other semifinal, UCLA plays Pepperdine at 6:30.

Irvine’s sixth consecutive victory, and 14th in the last 16 games, was wrapped up by halftime, thanks in part to four goals from the team’s leading scorer, Jeff Powers, and 10 saves by Hipp.

Dan Hayes put the Anteaters (20-5) on top for good, 2-1, with a goal after his rebound with 4 minutes 36 seconds left in the second quarter. Powers made it 3-1 a little more than a minute later on a counterattack.

That opened the flood gates.

Andy Coffman grabbed a loose ball that bounced off the hands of Stanford goalie Nick Ellis and fired it into the cage for a 4-1 lead 1:38 before halftime. Then the Anteaters opened the third quarter with four more goals, including two by Powers.

“Our defense led to our offense today,” Powers said. “Everyone stayed back and did their jobs and played defense and that allowed us to get the ball and attack.”

The 6-foot-7 Hipp was a big part of the effort. His wingspan narrowed the attacking area for Stanford (12-13), which had advanced earlier in the day with a 10-8 victory over UC Santa Barbara.

Irvine Coach Ted Newland liked the first three quarters, but wasn’t happy that the Anteaters, who led, 9-1, after John Dorfi’s goal with about six minutes to play, surrendered five goals from that point on.

“We played hard for three quarters,” Newland said.

In other quarterfinals:

California 10, Long Beach State 6--Jerry Smith had three of his game-high four goals in the first quarter for Cal (15-8).

Pepperdine 5, USC 4--The Waves (13-11) spoiled the anticipated rematch between the Trojans (18-6) and UCLA (19-3), which defeated Pacific, 13-6.

Pepperdine’s Mike Peetz scored the game-winning goal with 1:57 to play.

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College Water Polo

* What: Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s tournament

* When: Today and Sunday

* Where: USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center at Joint Forces Training Base, 11200 Lexington Dr., Los Alamitos

* At stake: Automatic berth to the NCAA tournament, Dec. 2-3

* Today’s schedule: Consolation games: 1 p.m.--Stanford vs. Long Beach State; 2:30 p.m.--Pacific vs. USC. Semifinals: 5 p.m.--California vs. UC Irvine; 6:30 p.m.--UCLA vs. Pepperdine.

* Tickets: Tournament pass is $20 for adults, $10 for youths and senior citizens. Single-day pass is $10 for adults, $5 for youths and seniors. Information: (562) 985-4949

* Directions to the USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center: Off the 605 freeway, take Katella east to Lexington. Right on Lexington. Center is south of the corner of Lexington and Farquhar.