PRINCETON, N.J. ? The 9th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team defeated No. 20 Princeton by an 11-9 score on Friday night. Six different Tritons scored, including three by Adnan Jerkovic and two each by Steven Donohoe, Daniel Garcia and A.J. Kotanjian. Jeff Hunt and Chance Vermilyea also netted scores for UCSD. With the win, the Tritons improve to 4-1 on the year, while the Tigers drop to 0-1. The Tritons continue with the Princeton Invitational over the weekend, with two games each day. UCSD faces George Washington and Iona on Saturday, followed by Johns Hopkins and Navy on Sunday.
UC San Diego jumped off to a quick start and never trailed in the game. Goals from Steven Donohoe and Chance Vermilyea gave the Tritons a 2-0 lead in the opening quarter before junior Eric Vreeland scored Princeton's first goal at 4:05 of the period. UCSD maintained the one-goal margin through the remainder of the period and led 4-3 entering the second frame.
Adrian Jerkovic gave the Tritons a 5-3 lead in the first minute of the second quarter, but consecutive Tigers goals a minute apart and knotted the game at 5-5, but UCSD quickly regained the lead and led 7-6 at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to UCSD as the Triton extended its lead to 10-7 in the stanza. Both teams solidified their defenses early in the fourth quarter as neither team could convert on a possession until Colgan scored halfway through the period. UC San Diego quickly countered and converted at the opposite end of the pool on a goal from A.J. Kotanjian to give the Tritons an 11-9 lead.
