Trumped-up ‘Eaters are prey for Lions

Barry Faulkner

In his 38th season, just 11 wins shy of 700, UC Irvine men’s water

polo coach Ted Newland has the well-deserved respect of those

throughout the sport’s collegiate ranks.

After the Anteaters fell, 8-7, to nonconference visitor Loyola

Marymount Wednesday night, however, Newland said such esteem may have

been inappropriately bestowed upon his youthful squad this season.

“We’re very young and very dumb,” Newland said after the Anteaters

(3-3), ranked No. 7 in the nation, lost for the first time in eight

meetings with the No. 12 Lions (4-2). “It’s going to take some time

to get to where we need to be.”

With a starting seven including only one senior, three juniors and

three sophomores, as well as eight additional freshmen on the roster,

Newland believes his team may have been saddled with unrealistic

expectations.

“We’re overrated, big-time,” said Newland, who as the Dean Smith

of the water world -- the former North Carolina basketball coach

amassed 879 career victories, though his two NCAA titles are one

fewer than Newland owns -- always seems to bring out the best in the

opponent.

“One of my goals, when I took this job six years ago, was to chase

Ted Newland, the legend,” LMU Coach John Loughran said. “We’ve played

[the Anteaters] some close games in the past, but this is the first

time our program has beaten them and it’s a special win. This is the

toughest our team has played this season.”

It was, indeed, a tough loss for the hosts, who surrendered their

2-0 lead early in the second quarter, then fought the current as the

Lions scored to break ties at 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

The game-winner came with 12 seconds left, on a man-advantage

situation, with Ryan Chapatte firing in an assist from Endre

Rex-Kiss. The Lions called timeout to set up the decisive sequence,

after UCI junior two-meter man Dan Noon was ejected (temporary

exclusion after a foul) on what Newland later termed an “iffy” call.

Rex-Kiss, a sophomore from Hungary, then batted away a pass

intended for UCI junior two-meter man Rick Merlo to foil the

Anteaters’ final bid to force overtime.

“We could have won, if we’d done one or two things differently,”

Newland said. “But we’ve got a lot of young and dumb people.”

The Anteaters’ rebuilding mission was accelerated in March when

Dreason Barry, a third-team All-American as a sophomore when he

scored 66 goals last season, fifth most in the Mountain Pacific

Sports Federation, suffered what Newland called a career-threatening

knee injury.

Jeff Powers, a first-team All-MPSF performer who scored 74 goals

as a senior last year, then joined the national team, also left a big

void. And the depth chart took yet another blow when Garrett Gentry,

a junior who earned honorable mention for conference laurels in 2002,

elected to redshirt.

“Things would be a lot different if they had their big guy,” said

Loughran, referring to the 6-foot-9, 210-pound Barry. “But we lost

eight seniors from last year’s team, so we’re pretty young

ourselves.”

The Lions started three seniors, one junior, two sophomores and

freshman goalie Ian Elliott Wednesday. But six LMU goals came from

seniors, including three by Chapatte and two by Kris Barr.

UCI also relied on its more experienced players to find the goal

cage as senior Phil Garcia and Noon scored three goals apiece.

Sophomore Nate White was the only underclassmen to score for the

Anteaters, tying the game at 7 on a feed from Garcia with 43 seconds

left.

White, after a timeout with 1:02 remaining, capped a man-advantage

situation for the hosts, only the second goal in five six-on-five

opportunities for the Anteaters.

White also assisted on Noon’s powerful scoring shot from two

meters that pulled UCI even, 6-6, with 3:33 left.

UCI junior Rick Merlo, had two assists, while sophomore Chris

Peters and freshman Cole Bitter also set up teammates for scores.

Sophomore Joe Wynne had six saves for the Anteaters, while

Elliott, a product of Foothill High, had 10.

The Anteaters return to action Saturday, when they host the

two-day Southern California Tournament, featuring 11 of the nation’s

12 top-ranked teams, as well as No. 19 Cal Baptist.

UCI is in Group A with USC and Long Beach State and opens the

tournament Saturday at 7 a.m. against the 49ers. Newland’s squad

plays USC, which earned a 12-6 win over the ‘Eaters in a

nonconference game Sunday, at 11:20 a.m. Saturday.

The tournament championship game is scheduled for 3:40 p.m.

Sunday.

*--*

Nonconference

LMU 8, UC Irvine 7

Score by Quarters

LMU 1 3 1 3 - 8

UC Irvine 2 1 2 2 - 7

Loyola Marymount - Chapatte 3, Rex-Kiss 2, Barr 2,

Szego 1. Saves - Elliott 10. UC Irvine - Garcia 3,

Noon 3, White 1. Saves - Wynne 6

*--*