IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine men's water polo team put No. 10 UC Irvine on its heels on Friday before the visiting Anteaters ultimately escaped with a 12-10 victory.

The Eagles moved ahead 10-9 midway through the fourth period after Marius Jakimcikas scored five straight goals for the Green and Gold. Both teams were able to get a couple more shots off during the final three minutes of action, but UC Irvine ended the game on a 3-0 run to avoid the upset.

Jakimcikas led the charge with six goals and an assist in his first appearance since he was named the Newport Rib Company Eagle of the Week. Impressively, he net all of his goals in the second half. It was also the second straight outing where he totaled a team-best six scores.

"Offensively, Marius was on fire and we got great production off of post ups and center position," said CUI head coach Dreason Barry.

The Lithuania native's fourth goal of the day came off a slick pass by Nick Walker and tied the contest at 8-8. About 30 seconds later, Jakimcikas found the back of the net for the fifth time by lobbing it over the goalie to give CUI a one goal advantage. After UCI tied it on a no-look shot attempt by Jason Evezard, Jakimcikas cashed in again off a sweet dish from freshman Nick Taylor to make it 10-9 in favor of the Eagles.

However, UCI quickly seized the momentum down the stretch after Jakimcikas was disqualified with his third exclusion. The Anteaters avoided fouling for the majority of the first half and the Eagles finished with four more exclusions than the visitors.

Both teams played solid defense throughout the contest with a ton of attempts ricocheting off the posts. Senior goalkeeper Cullen Mooers had arguably his best game as an Eagle. He racked up 11 saves and a steal and came away impressed with the way his teammates traded defensive assignments on the back end.

"This gives us a big energy boost heading into this weekend," explained Moores. "We communicated really well on defense and my teammates did a great job helping me out and blocking some of their shots."

"The team defensively did a good job of forcing low percentage shots and Cullen was able to come up with some great blocks," added Barry.

Austin Barton opened the scoring in the first quarter and added a pair of steals. Messan Moore, Cristano Tomassetti and Mitchell Iunker also found the back of the net while Taylor continued his impressive rookie season by handing out a team-high four assists. Braden Lee added an assist on Iunker's goal.

The Green and Gold head to Redlands on Saturday morning and will play Redlands at 11 a.m. before taking on Grossmont College.

For the full CUI men's water polo schedule, click here.