15th-Ranked Tritons Split Final Day of Kap7 SoCal Tournament

LOS ANGELES – The 15th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team went 1-1 to conclude the Kap7 SoCal Tournament at Burns Aquatic Center, on the campus of Loyola Marymount, Sunday. The Tritons lost 10-5 to No. 14 Air Force in the first game and defeated No. 16 Santa Clara, 13-8, in the final match.

Game One
Air Force limited UCSD to just one goal in the first half to defeat the Tritons, 10-5.

UCSD started slow as they were shut out in the opening quarter. The Falcons scored three times in the period to take a 3-0 lead.

Air Force put away two goals before senior two-meter Tyler Mancuso fired away the first Triton score of the game with 2:06 remaining before halftime.

UCSD found the back of the cage four times, but allowed five Falcon goals in the final two quarters of the game as the Tritons fell by five scores

Mancuso led UCSD with two goals and goalkeeper Jack Turner recorded 10 saves.

Air Force's Zack Kamai, Robby Steifel and Ben Rogers each had two goals and Max Benson amassed 10 saves.

Game Two
The Tritons outscored Santa Clara 8-4 in the first half and used it to defeat the Broncos. 13-8.

After an even score, 2-2, midway through the opening period, UCSD was able to get goals from junior utility Nassim Hmeidan and redshirt freshman utility Austin Norris to take a two-score advantage.

Senior two-meter Tiki Toplak and Hmeidan scored once and senior utility Chase Cockerill put away two, to complete his hat trick, in the second period as the Tritons took a four-goal lead going into halftime.

UCSD found the back of the cage five times in the second half and allowed four SCU scores to take a take a five-goal victory.

Cockerill scored a game-high four goals for the Tritons and Hmeidan added two. Goalie Sam Thompson got his first start of the season and compiled 11 saves.

Julian Fraser scored three times for the Broncos and Joe Maestri recorded 12 saves.

The Tritons' next game will be on the road against Long Beach State on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.

GAME ONE
UCSD 0 1 2 2 - 5
AFA 3 2 3 2 - 10

Goals
UCSD: Tyler Mancuso 2, Jacob Castro 1, Nassim Hmeidan 1, Andy Moore 1

AFA: Zack Kamai 2, Robby Stiefel 2, Ben Rogers 2, Riley Thomas 2, Justin Harrison 1, Edward Smet 1

Saves
UCSD: Jack Turner 10

AFA: Max Benson 10

GAME TWO
UCSD 4 4 3 2 - 13
SCU 2 2 2 2 - 8

Goals
UCSD: Chase Cockerill 4, Nassim Hmeidan 3, Cole Martinez 2, Tyler Mancuso 1, Tiki Toplak 1, Daniel Straub 1, Austin Norris 1

SCU: Julian Fraser 3, Michael Franco 2, John Raineir 1, Dane Estrella 1, Graham McClone 1

Saves
UCSD: Sam Thompson 11

SCU: Joe Maestri 12