LOS ANGELES - David Morton tallied a school-record 21
saves and Brian Donohoe paced the offense with three scores, as the pair led
the No. 13 UC San Diego men's water polo team to an 11-7 victory over 17th-ranked
Concordia Irvine on Saturday afternoon. The win sets up a 10:40 a.m. game
against No. 9 Pepperdine on Sunday.
The Tritons (7-6) are competing in the SoCal Tournament, a two-day event hosted
by UCLA. The field features 16 teams, including the entire top 10 of the latest
Collegiate Water Polo Association poll.
On Saturday morning, UCSD suffered a 22-12 loss to 4th-ranked Stanford (5-2).
The Tritons rebounded though, using a terrific late run to top CUI (2-6).
The Eagles scored the first two goals of the afternoon match, but UCSD ended
the contest on a 9-4 run. Eight different Tritons registered scores, led by
three from Donohoe and two from senior Ryan Allred. Two of Donohoe's goals came
with UCSD on the power play.
Morton's save total of 21 tops his previous career high, 19 stops recorded against the same CUI program on
Sept. 19, 2009.
In the morning match against Stanford, 10 different Tritons scored. Donohoe and
Graham Saber led the way with two goals apiece, but the Cardinal offense proved
to be too much for UCSD. Four members of the Stanford squad registered three
scores each. Morton collected six saves in the losing effort.
If the Sunday morning contest against Pepperdine is anything like last year's
early-season game between the Tritons and Wave, the fans will witness a seesaw and
hard-fought affair. At the Triton Invitational on Sept. 5, 2009, Pepperdine managed
to squeak past UCSD by a 12-10 margin.