SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 11 UC San Diego men's water polo team split a pair of matches on the first day of the SoCal Tournament Saturday, dropping a 15-8 decision to host UC Santa Barbara and rebounding to take a 10-5 win against Princeton at Campus Pool.
The afternoon split brought the Tritons to a 6-4 overall record.
Game 1
The Tritons came out strong against sixth-ranked UC Santa Barbara, with each team scoring three goals in the opening quarter.
UCSD tallied three scores in the second stanza, allowing it to head into halftime with a 6-4 lead.
However, UC Santa Barbara came back with high energy after the break, scoring six goals in the third quarter while holding the Tritons scorless for the first time in the match.
The Gauchos tacked on another quarter with significant scoring, finding the net five times. UCSD scored two more times, but it wasn't enough.
Matthew Michalko, Luke Syka and Josh Stiling each scored twice for the Tritons. Nick Michels made 10 saves in net.
Eleven different Gauchos had goals.
UCSD 3 - 3 - 0 - 2 = 8
UCSB 3 - 1 - 6 - 5 = 15
UC San Diego Goals: David Higginson, Tiki Toplak, Matthew Michalko (2), Luke Syka (2), Josh Stiling (2)
UC San Diego Saves: Nick Michels (10)
UCSB Goals: Matt Johnson, Bryce Miller, Derek Shoemaker, Eric Van de Mortel, Bryan Snyder, Nick Tomasello, Teddy Zhang, Dylan Bailani (2), Evan Dellinger (2), Brenden McElroy (2), Brian Shoemaker (2)
UCSB Saves: Chris Witelegge (1), Myles Christian (10)
Game 2
The Tritons came back strong from the loss to capture a 10-5 win over No. 16 Princeton.
UCSD outscored Princeton in three of the four quarters. The Tritons' defense allowed a single goal in the second, third and fourth periods.
Stiling led the Tritons offensively with six goals, while Brian Roach added three. Cameron Ravanbach finished with 11 saves in net.
UCSD 2 - 4 - 2 - 2 = 10
Princeton 2 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 5
UC San Diego Goals: Brian Donohoe, Matthew Michalko, Tiki Toplak, Brian Roach (3), Josh Stiling (4)
UC San Diego Saves: Cameron Ravanbach (11)
Princeton Goals: Kayj Shannon, Matt Weber, Tim Wenzlau, Sam Butler (2)
Princeton Saves: Alex Gow (8)
On Sunday, the Tritons will meet WWPA foe Loyola Marymount for the third time this season. UCSD downed the Lions, 10-8, Wednesday in La Jolla.
-- UCSDtritons.com --
