BERKELEY, Calif. ? The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team split its two games on the first day of the Northern California Tournament on Saturday in Berkeley. UCSD was within striking distance at halftime, but fell to No. 9 Long Beach State 9-6. Daniel Garcia led the way with two goals, as five different Tritons scored. The Tritons scored four goals in each period in their match-up with UC Santa Cruz as the Tritons won 16-9. Garcia had another strong game with five goals, while Chance Vermilyea and Sean Roberts scored three apiece. UCSD is now 6-4, Long Beach State is 5-0 and UCSC drops to 1-6.
In the loss to Long Beach State, UCSD and LBSU were tied after the first quarter at 1-1 and trailed 3-2 at the break. Long Beach State put together back-to-back three-goal periods in the third and fourth, to take the game 9-6. Daniel Garcia scored twice for the Tritons, while Jeff Hunt, Simon Schafer, Steven Donohoe and Peter Gresham also scored. Goalie Mark Stemler recorded four saves.
Against the Banana Slugs, UCSD held a slim 4-3 edge after the first period. UCSD would go on to outscore UCSC 12-6 the rest of the way. In addition to the multiple goal scorers of Garcia 5, Vermilyea 3 and Roberts 3, Michael Libutti, Ian Bausback, Schafer and Donohoe added scores. Adam Rule and Stemler recorded one save apiece.
UCSD is back in action on Sunday for day two at the Northern California Tournament in Berkeley. The Tritons will play their first game at 10:40 a.m against the winner of the Navy vs. Pacific match-up.
