UC Irvine earns first conference win

MEN’S WATER POLO

UC Irvine 10, Pacific 9

STOCKTON — Freshman Jacob Mourer scored three goals to pace the No. 8-ranked Anteaters in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest against the No. 7-ranked Tigers on Saturday.

Michael Bailey had seven saves, while Trent Baxter and Mitch Wise scored twice for visiting UCI (13-8, 1-3 in conference).

UOP, which rallied from a 7-5 deficit to take an 8-7 lead, fell to 9-8, 0-3.

Mourer goals tied it at 8 and gave UCI a 9-8 lead that became a two-goal cushion when Baxter scored with 6:00 left.

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MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Big West Championships

RIVERSIDE — Senior Brett Matejka finished 22nd to lead UC Irvine to a fifth-place finish at UC Riverside on Saturday.

Matejka finished the 8,000-meter course in 24 minutes, 42.3 seconds, more than a minute behind winner Chad Hall of UC Riverside.

Sophomore Steven Melena (24th in 24:47.2), junior and Newport Harbor High product Rex Nelson (27th in 24:49.4), freshman Matt Neev (29th in 24:50.8), junior Nick Osborne (37th in 25:12.3), junior Brennen Halliday (41st in 25:20.4), and sophomore Andrew Snyder (42nd in 25:22) also finished in the top 50 for the Anteaters.

UCI had 128 points.

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo won the team title with 36 points.

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WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Big West Championships

RIVERSIDE — Freshman Kaycee Holcomb finished 17th to lead UC Irvine to a sixth-place finish at UC Riverside on Saturday.

Holcomb completed the 6,000-meter course in 21 minutes, 18.7 seconds.

Senior Melissa Mead, a Newport Harbor High product (21:28.9), junior Chloe Fata (27th in 21:31.4), senior Maggie McDuffee (48th in 22:36.2) and freshman Marthie Ponty (50th in 22:42) also cracked the top 50 for the Anteaters.

UCI’s 158 points were 111 behind victorious UC Davis.

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MEN’S GOLF

Cabo Collegiate

SAN JOSE del CABO, Mexico — UC Irvine sophomore Allan Jun finished 35th and the Anteaters were 10th as a team in the 54-hole event concluded Saturday at Club Campestre Golf Course.

Pete Fernandez and Ryan Knapp tied for 40th at 226 for UCI, for which Michael Yang (228) was 47th.

UCI’s team score of 904 was 73 strokes off victorious Arkansas.

It was the final tournament of the fall for the ‘Eaters, who return to action Jan. 28-29 in the Arizona Intercollegiate.

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MEN’S SOCCER

Biola 2, Vanguard 1

LA MIRADA — Junior forward Kevin Cornwall scored on a penalty kick in the 55th minute for the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference regular-season finale Saturday at Biola.

No. 23 Vanguard (12-6, 6-3 in conference) finished third in the conference, behind champion Fresno Pacific (7-2 in conference) and second-place Concordia (6-2-1). The Lions were last year’s GSAC regular-season champion.

Vanguard begins the GSAC Tournament Wednesday.

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WOMEN’S SOCCER

Biola 2, Vanguard 1 (OT)

LA MIRADA — The host Eagles scored in the second overtime of the teams’ Golden State Athletic Conference finale Saturday at Biola.

Charlotte Wisniewski scored the goal for No. 25 Vanguard (12-4-1, 4-4-1), which finished in sixth place in conference. Point Loma Nazarene won the GSAC regular-season title.

The GSAC Tournament begins Tuesday.