LA JOLLA, Calif. ? The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team played an outstanding first-half but could not hold on, falling to No. 8 UC Irvine on Friday night in front of 329 fans at Canyonview Pool. UCSD scored five of the first six goals of the game and led 6-3 at halftime. The Tritons would get shutout in the third quarter and see the Anteaters score seven unanswered goals to take a commanding 10-6 advantage. The Tritons were led by Adnan Jerkovic with four goals, while Daniel Garcia added two and Steven Donohoe and A.J. Kotanjian also scored. The loss drops the Tritons to 11-4, while UCI improves to 2-5.
In the first quarter the game was scoreless until Jerkovic scored with 2:43 remaining. The goal would be the only score of the first, as UCSD led 1-0.
In the second quarter, Garcia scored at the 6:59 mark while Jerkovic scored with 5:37 left to give UCSD the 3-0 lead. UCI's Brandon Johnson scored a goal with 5:22 remaining to make the score 3-1. Jerkovic scored at the 4:21 mark followed by a Garcia score at 3:15 to push UCSD's lead to 5-1. After two UCI goals, Jerkovic floated a shot over the goalkeepers hands at the buzzer, giving UCSD a 6-3 halftime lead.
The third quarter was all UCI, as the Anteaters outscored the Tritons 6-0 and led 9-6 entering the fourth quarter. UCI's Greg Enloe scored his third, fourth and fifth goals of the game in the quarter.
UCI scored the first goal of the fourth with 5:13 remaining. UCSD's Donohoe ended the Triton scoring drought, netting a goal with 4:12 left and the score was 10-7. Kotanjian added a score with 1:10 left to round out the scoring at 10-8 UCI.
UCSD is back in action next week at the Southern California Tournament hosted by Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. The Tritons will take on Long Beach State in their first game of the tournament in Los Angeles.
UCI -0-3-6-1=10
UCSD -1-5-0-2=8
Scoring:
UCI: Greg Enloe (5), Brandon Johnson (3), Thomas Kruip (2).
UCSD: Adnan Jerkovic (4), Daniel Garcia (2), Steven Donohoe, A.J. Kotanjian.
1st
Jerkovic (UCSD) 2:43
2nd
Garcia (UCSD) 6:59
Jerkovic (UCSD) 5:37
Johnson (UCI) 5:22
Jerkovic (UCSD) 4:21
Donohoe (UCSD) 3:15
Enloe (UCI) 1:34
Enloe (UCI) 1:04
Jerkovic (UCSD) 0:00
3rd
Kruip (UCI) 6:18
Enloe (UCI) 5:26
Johnson (UCI) 4:06
Enloe (UCI) 2:33
Enloe (UCI) 1:46
Kruip (UCI) 0:01
4th
Johnson (UCI) 5:19
Donohoe (UCSD) 4:12
Kotanjian (UCSD) 1:10
