IRVINE, Calif.

- The 7th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team split its matches on the first day of the Southern California Invitational hosted by UC Irvine on Saturday. UCSD opened the day with a 13-6 win over 13th-ranked UC Davis. Chris Finegold, Jonathan Hopkins, Steven Jendrusina, Brandon Borso and Ty Lackey had two scores apiece. UCSD then went up against 2nd-ranked UC Berkeley and fell behind 7-3 at halftime. The Tritons battled back but would fall short 8-6. The Tritons are now 9-2 and will continue competition at the Southern California Invitational on Sunday with two more games.

In the Tritons' 13-6 win over the 13th-ranked Aggies, the Tritons fell behind 2-1 after the first period. The second period was a different story as UCSD scored four unanswered goals by Hopkins, Finegold, Lackey and Eichholz. UCSD led 5-3 at haltime. After a closely contested thrid period, the Tritons put the game away in the fourth by outscoring the Aggies 4-1 and improve the Tritons to 9-1 on the season and set up the showdown with 2nd-ranked UC Berkeley.

Against Cal, Borso, Adnan Jerkovic, Lackey, Finegold, Hopkins and Jesse Casellini netted goals. The difference was the second quarter as the Bears outscored the Tritons 5-1, en route to the 7-3 lead at halftime. After the break, Finegold scored to cut the lead to 7-4, but the Bears added a goal with 1:40 in the third. Hopkins scored before the end of the quarter as the Tritons trailed 8-5 through three. The teams were scoreless in the fourth until Casellini netted his goal at the 1:22 mark, which provided the final scoring at 8-6 Cal.

The Tritons are now 9-2 and will continue competition at the Southern California Invitational on Sunday with two more games.