UCSD RECORDS
Overall: 9-5
WWPA: 3-0
Home: 2-2
Away: 3-2
Neutral: 4-1
THE SCHEDULE
Match 15
vs. No. 6 Long Beach State (9-5, 0-0 GCC)
Wednesday, Oct. 12 • 6 p.m.
Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Live Stats • Live Video • Tickets
Match 16
vs. No. 15 California Baptist (13-7, 0-1 WWPA)
Saturday, Oct. 15 • 5 p.m.
Canyonview Aquatic Center • La Jolla
Live Stats • Live Video • Tickets
The University of California San Diego men's water polo team begins a four-game home stand with Long Beach State on Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 6 p.m. The Tritons then have two days of prep before taking on California Baptist on Saturday, Oct. 15, at 5 p.m., in a Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) matchup.
FREE STICKERS
Fans can spruce up their school spirit by applying the Trident Sticker given out at Wednesday night's water polo game against Long Beach State on your computer or school-related materials. A UCSD Athletics representative will be out on campus on Monday, Oct. 17, looking to award one lucky fan who has the sticker applied. The grand prize for showing your support for UCSD Athletics is a $150 speaker system, courtesy of the UCSD Bookstore.
WATCH IT LIVE
You can watch each of this week's matches live online in HD on UCSDtritons.tv, featuring Greg Calvert and UCSD women's water polo head coach Brad Kreutzkamp on the call. Day packages are $5.99, and season passes including all Triton sports are $34.99. To watch the games, click here. Both contests this week will also have live stats through The FOSH.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Tritons were rated 12th in the most recent Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national poll on Oct. 4. UCSD started the season ranked ninth. For full rankings, click here.
UCSD GOES 2-1 AT GARY TROYER TOURNEY
The Tritons played three games at the two-day Gary Troyer Tournament, co-hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer. UCSD defeated CMS 12-8 to open the tournament on Friday. The Tritons were upset by 19th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer by a score of 10-8 in the nightcap. UCSD redeemed itself the following day, crushing Penn State Behrend 24-4 to conclude the tournament.
UC San Diego 12, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8
Pomona-Pitzer 10, UC San Diego 8
UC San Diego 24, Penn State Behrend 4
WWPA STANDINGS
(as of Oct. 11)
1. UC San Diego 3-0, 9-5
2. UC Davis 2-0, 12-4
3. Loyola Marymount 2-1, 6-8
4. Santa Calra 1-1, 5-9
5. Concordia 0-0, 4-10
6. California Baptist 0-1, 12-7
7. Air Force 0-2, 4-11
8. Fresno Pacific 0-3, 8-7
TEAM LEADERS
Goals: Arman Momdzhyan, 30
Assists: Nick Alexander, 23
Points (goals+assists): Arman Momdzhyan/Skyler Munatones, 37
Steals: Jack Turner, 18
Saves: Jack Turner, 122
AMONGST THE WWPA
Goals
5. Arman Momdzhyan, 30
Assists
5. Nick Alexander, 23
Points (goals+assists)
T8. Arman Momdzhyan, 37
T8. Skyler Munatones, 37
Saves
5. Jack Turner, 122
ALEXANDER ASSIST
With 23 assists this season, senior Nick Alexander now has 113 for his career, which put him sixth all-time. Ahead of him are Dan Crane (118), Greg Goodrich (119), Jon Hopkins (125) and John Butler (134). Adnan Jerkovic is UCSD's career assist leader by more than 100 at 237.
HAT TRICKS
11 Tritons have combined for 18 hat tricks:
Arman Momdzhyan (4)
9/8 vs. Iona (five goals)
9/10 vs. Johns Hopkins (five goals)
9/15 at Cal Lutheran (four goals)
9/23 vs. Fresno Pacific (four goals)
Skyler Munatones (3)
9/15 at Cal Lutheran (three goals)
9/21 vs. Loyola Marymount (three goals)
10/7 at Pomona-Pitzer (three goals)
Nassim Hmeidan (2)
9/8 vs. Iona (three goals)
9/30 at Air Force (four goals)
Jack Ellinthorpe (2)
9/10 vs. Johns Hopkins (four goals)
10/7 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (four goals)
Nick Alexander (1)
9/9 vs. Brown (three goals)
Kevin Asplund (1)
10/7 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (three goals)
Andy Moore (1)
10/7 at Pomona-Pitzer (three goals)
Ari Wayne (1)
10/8 vs. Penn State Behrend (five goals)
Kacper Langiewicz (1)
10/8 vs. Penn State Behrend (five goals)
Rich Farley (1)
10/8 vs. Penn State Behrend (five goals)
Luka Vasiljevic (1)
10/8 vs. Penn State Behrend (three goals)
ABOUT THE 49ERS
Long Beach State is 9-5 on the year and are ranked sixth in the nation. The 49ers are led by Nolan McConnell who has a 28 goals this season. Thomas Freeman is LBSU's primary goalie with a 7.93 goals against average and a .570 save percentage. 49er head coach Gavin Arroyo is in his 11th year at the helm.
SERIES HISTORY
The Tritons are 15-53 all-time against Long Beach State. UCSD fell to the 49ers, 10-4, in a regular season game in Long Beach last season.
ABOUT THE LANCERS
15th-ranked California Baptist is 13-7 overall and 0-1 in the WWPA. The Lancers lone conference loss came at the hands of UC Davis. Teddy Forte and Dominick Nevarez lead CBU with 28 goals each. Tanner Shore leads the Lancers in assists with 24. Goalie Joseph Mooreman has a 9.16 goals against average. Kevin Rosa is in his second year as head coach of CBU.
SERIES HISTORY
The Tritons are 10-0 all-time against the Lancers. In the last contest between the two teams, UCSD came from behind and defeated CBU by a score of 13-11 in Riverside in a regular season conference matchup last season.
HEAD COACH DENNY HARPER
UCSD head coach Denny Harper is in his 37th season leading the Tritons. He has compiled a career record of 623-461-4. An 18-time WWPA Coach of the Year and 13-time ACWPC National Coach of the Year, Harper has directed the Tritons to 18 WWPA titles and 14 appearances in the NCAA Championship. Last season, he was named both WWPA and ACWPC Division II Coach of the Year, his fourth straight time earning that award and his eighth since 2000.
MOMDZHYAN NAMED WWPA CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior utility Arman Momdzhyan was named the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Co-Player of the Week for the week of Sept. 5-11. Momdzhyan, a transfer from Los Angeles Valley College, scored 14 goals in four games that saw the Tritons go 3-1 at the Princeton Invitational. He put away five goals in a 21-4 win against Iona to open tournament. The following day he scored twice to help UCSD defeat No. 14 Brown in overtime, 12-11. On the last day, the Glendale product recorded his second hat trick of the invite by firing home five, with three in the first quarter, in a 15-4 rout against Johns Hopkins in the first game of the day. Momdzhyan had two scores in a 12-10 loss to No. 12 Harvard in the nightcap.
WHAT THE COACHES THINK
The Tritons were picked to finish second in the WWPA by the league's head coaches. UC Davis was selected as the favorite to win the conference with five first-place votes for 35 points. The Tritons received the other two first-place votes and 32 points. The third spot went to Air Force with 21 points. Loyola Marymount and California Baptist tied for fourth with 20 points. Santa Clara and Fresno Pacific rounded out the poll with 12 and six points, respectively.
2016 WWPA Men's Water Polo Preseason Coaches' Poll
Institution (First-Place Votes), Points
1. UC Davis (5), 35
2. UC San Diego (2), 32
3. Air Force, 21
T-4. Loyola Marymount, 20
T-4. California Baptist, 20
6. Santa Clara, 12
7. Fresno Pacific, 6
GET TO KNOW THE TRITONS
Denny Harper, the 2015 Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) Division II and Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Coach of the Year, begins his 37th year at the helm when the men's water polo team opens its 2016 schedule this weekend by hosting the Triton Invitational. UCSD is coming off a 15-15 season in which it won the WWPA for the third year running, and placed fourth at the NCAA Championship.
The Tritons will have big shoes to fill with the departure of All-American utility Chase Cockerill, as well as two two-meter players in Tiki Toplak and Tyler Mancuso, and utility Daniel Straub.
UCSD welcomes 12 newcomers, 10 being freshmen, to the team and return 15 players including senior All-American utility Nick Alexander (48 goals, 64 assists and 44 steals in 2015), senior utility Andy Moore (11 goals, 29 assists and 41 steals), redshirt sophomore utility Cole Martinez (31 goals, 18 assists and 27 steals) and redshirt sophomore goalie Jack Turner (248 saves and 35 steals). Twenty-seven of the 28 Tritons on the roster are California natives, with the exception of freshman Perry Brandes, who hails from Alpharetta, Ga. Local products include Kacper Langiewicz (San Marcos/Mission Hills HS), Thomas Higginson (San Diego/The Bishop's School), Martinez (San Diego/La Jolla HS), Rich Farley (Vista/Carlsbad HS/Palomar College), Andreas Stathatos (San Diego/Mt. Carmel HS), Cooper Milton (San Diego/Cathedral Catholic HS), Collin Sullivan (Escondido/San Pasqual HS), John Tony Murphy (San Diego/Grossmont HS) and Jack Ranj (San Diego/Westview HS). For the full roster, click here.
LAST SEASON
UCSD finished the 2015 season at 15-15 overall, highlighted by a third straight yet improbable WWPA tournament title and fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championship. The Tritons, seeded third with a 4-2 regular-season league record, defeated Santa Clara, host Air Force and UC Davis to win the conference crown. UCSD took care of Princeton, 12-7, in the NCAA Championship play-in game to advance to the final four. The Tritons fell to top-seeded and eventual national champion UCLA in the national semifinal and second-seeded Cal in the third-place game.
GEAR UP
For the latest in Triton athletic gear, make sure to visit ucsdtritonsgear.com. Run by UCSD Athletics' online partner Advanced-Online, the site provides an on-demand option for Triton Athletic apparel and merchandise. Fans have access to over 600 products that can be processed and shipped within 24 hours.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UCSD home athletic events, and much more!
SOCIAL MEDIA
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UCSD Water Polo on Twitter (UCSDTritonsMWP)
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UCSD Water Polo on Facebook (ucsdtritonsmwp)
UP NEXT
The Tritons continue their four-game home stand and will play their final regular-season contests at Canyonview Aquatic Center. UCSD will face Concordia on Thursday, Oct. 20, at 6 p.m., and UC Irvine on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 12 p.m. for Senior Day.
#AllForOne
