Men's Water Polo 9/20/2015 11:00:00 PM UCSD

10th-ranked Tritons Fall to No. 12 Princeton, Defeat No. 16 Air Force to Close Out NorCal Tournament

STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 10 UC San Diego men's water polo team concluded the Kap7 NorCal Tournament Sunday with a 12-9 loss to 12th-ranked Princeton and a 16-15 victory over No. 16 Air Force. The tournament was hosted by Stanford at Avery Aquatics Center.

The Tritons went 2-2 over the weekend and placed 11th in the tournament. They are now 6-5 overall this season.

Game One
UCSD trailed Princeton by one at halftime, but the Tigers pulled away in the second half to win 12-9.

After Princeton's Ryan Wilson scored the first two goals of the game, Tyler Mancuso found the back of the cage with nine seconds left of the opening period as the Tritons trailed 2-1 after the first quarter.

The two teams traded three scores each in the second frame as the Tigers led by one point with two quarters left.

Princeton got two quick goals to start the second half. UCSD answered right back with two of their own from Jack Ellinthorpe and Chase Cockerill. The Tigers scored one more time before the end of the third period, up by two points.

Princeton's Jovan Jeremic took over in the final frame, scoring three of his team's four goals. UCSD had three scores in the period, two from Cole Martinez and one from Mancuso to complete his hat trick, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers won by a margin of three.

Mancuso led the Tritons with a game co-high three goals and Cockerill and Martinez added two.

Princeton's Wilson and Jeremic also scored three goals.

Game Two
After a deadlocked two quarters, UCSD held off Air Force in the second half to walk away with a one-goal win, 16-15.

The Tritons scored four times before giving up one as Tiki Toplak, Kevin Asplund, Nick Alexander and Collin Sullivan each found the back of the cage to start the game. After the Falcons' Robby Steifel got a goal, Cockerill fired one home with 50 seconds left in the period. Air Force scored twice in the final 21 seconds as the Tritons led 5-3 after the first quarter.

UCSD gave up five goals in the second quarter, including three from Steifel to complete his hat trick, and scored three times to walk into halftime even.

The Tritons got four scores, including two from Daniel Straub, in the third period and limited the Falcons to three to take a one-point lead into the final frame.

Alexander and Toplak each scored two goals in the fourth quarter and UCSD held off Air Force for the narrow victory

Toplak and Alexander each recorded hat tricks with three goals. Cockerill and Straub added two each as nine different Tritons scored.

Steifel led Air Force with a game-best six goals.

UCSD will host WWPA rival Loyola Marymount in a non-conference matchup on Wednesday, September 23 at 6 p.m., part of the UCSD Welcome Week Triton Trifecta. Last year's game drew a crowd of 1,704 at Canyonview Aquatic Center.

GAME ONE
UCSD 1 3 2 3 - 9
Princeton 2 3 3 4 - 12

Goals
UCSD: Tyler Mancuso 3, Cole Martinez 2, Chase Cockerill 2, Jack Ellinthorpe 1, Nick Alexander 1

Princeton: Ryan Wilson 3, Jovan Jeremic 3, Michael Swart 2, Thomas Nelson 2, Bradley Watchell 1, Jordan Colina 1

GAME TWO
UCSD 5 3 4 4 - 16
AFA 3 5 3 4 - 15

Goals
UCSD: Nick Alexander 3, Tiki Toplak 3, Chase Cockerill 2, Daniel Straub 2, Jack Ellinthorpe 1, Cole Martinez 1, Nassim Hmeidan 1, Kevin Asplund 1, Collin Sullivan 1