LOS ANGELES - The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team punched its ticket to the national semifinals with a 12-7 win over No. 9 Princeton, seeded fourth, in one of two NCAA Championship play-in games Thursday at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The fifth-seeded Tritons used stellar defense, only giving up one goal in the first half to the Tigers, and exploded for five goals in the third quarter.
UCSD was led by senior two-meter Tyler Mancuso's three goals. Senior utility Daniel Straub, junior driver Nick Alexander and redshirt freshman driver Cole Martinez added two each. Redshirt freshman goalie Jack Turner was dominant in the cage with 12 saves and a steal.
Jovan Jeremic paced Princeton with three goals. Goalie Vojislav Mitrovic had eight saves.
The Tritons came out of the gates on fire with three scores and shut out the Tigers in the opening quarter. UCSD scored on the first possession of the game, as Martinez was able to find the back of the cage from the post, facing the opposite direction of the goal. Mancuso scored next on a six-on-five as Alexander found him at two meters. On the ensuing Triton possession, Cockerill rifled one home, with the assist coming from Straub.
With 27 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, Princeton's Jordan Colina was able to draw an ejection on Turner, leaving UCSD without a goalie. The Triton defense stepped up and was able to get a huge field block as they led 3-0 at the end of the period.
Martinez ignited UCSD in the second period with a catch-and-shoot goal from a Cockerill pass. Thomas Nelson got Princeton its first score on a powerplay. Straub and Mancuso scored on back-to-back posessions as the Tritons took a 6-1 lead into halftime.
UCSD outscored the Tigers 5-3 in the third frame. The Tritons had trouble defending Jeremic as he scored all three Princeton goals in the period. UCSD got two scores from Alexander and one each from senior two-meter Tiki Toplak, junior utility Nassim Hmeidan and Straub. Alexander got his last goal with 2:13 remaining in the third frame by shaking off his defender with a spin towards inside water and fired one right through Mitrovic's hands. The Tritons went into the final quarter with an 11-4 advantage.
UCSD was outscored 3-1 in the final period, but the margin was insurmountable as the Tritons won by five.
With the result, UCSD advances to the national semifinals and a date with top-ranked defending national champion UCLA, on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 4 p.m., at the Bruins' Spieker Aquatics Center. UCLA is 28-0 this season and a winner of 31 straight contests dating back to the 2014 postseason.
BOX SCORE
UCSD 3 3 5 1 - 12
PU 0 1 3 3 - 7
Goals
UCSD: Tyler Mancuso 3, Daniel Straub 2, Cole Martinez 2, Nick Alexander 2, Chase Cockerill, Tiki Toplak, Nassim Hmeidan
PU: Jovan Jeremic 3, Thomas Nelson 2, Jamie Kuprenas, Curtis Fink
Saves
UCSD: Jack Turner 12
PU: Vojislav Mitrovic 8
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