BERKELEY, Calif. ? The 5th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team opened up the Northern California Open with a convincing 17-9 win over 9th-ranked St. Francis. In the nightcap, the Tritons nearly took down 4th-ranked Stanford, falling to the Cardinal 8-7 in overtime. UCSD takes on UC Irvine on Sunday at 9:10 am.
In the win over St. Francis, UCSD scored six first-quarter goals to lead 6-2 after one period and would then add four unanswered scores in the second quarter to take a commanding 10-2 halftime lead. The Tritons would cruise to the 17-9 win. Jonathan Hopkins and Brandon Borso netted four goals apiece. Ty Lackey and Jesse Casellini added three goals each and Chris Finegold, Kevin Smoker and Steven Jendrusina added single goals.
In the match-up with Stanford, the teams were tied 2-2 after the first period. UCSD hled a 5-3 lead at the intermission and 6-4 lead after three. Stanford scored the only goals of the four period to knot the score at 6-6. Stanford outscored the Tritons in the overtime periods for the win. Hopkins netted three goals for UCSD while Borso added two. Jendrusina and Finegold tallied the other Triton scores.
