FRESNO, Calif. - Senior Arman Momdzhyan tallied a career-high six goals as the thirteenth-ranked University of California San Diego men's water polo team rolled past Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) opponent Fresno Pacific by a score of 18-1, Thursday afternoon in Fresno.

With the win, UC San Diego remained a perfect 2-0 in the WWPA and 3-5 overall. Fresno Pacific drops to 1-4 on the season and 0-1 in the conference. 

"We never take any team lightly, especially on the road in our conference," said head coach Denny Harper. "We came out sharp and our pressure really overwhelmed the Sunbirds.  Needless to say, the defense played exceptionally and both junior Sam Thompson and senior Oleg Koujikov each played solid halves in the goal.  Offensively we were relatively efficient with Momdzhyan leading the way with six goals.  Hopefully this gives us some momentum going into Saturday, as we face a very formidable opponent at Cal".

Momdzhyan's six goals were also a game-high. Eight other Tritons contributed goals including sophomore Skyler Munatones, sophomore Kacper Langiewicz, freshman Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt and junior Alessandro Valania with two a piece and sophomore Calder Hilde-Jones, junior Carson Ivancovich, freshman Nolan Ortega and freshman Jack Ranj each adding one.

Munatones tallied three assists while Turnbow-Lindenstadt had a team-high four steals.

UCSD outshot FPU 44-24 for a .409 shooting percentage and went 3-for-4 on powerplays. Munatones and Momdzhyan each had a five-meter penalty goal.

Thompson and senior Koujikov split time in goal with Thompson collecting seven saves and Koujikov grabbing six. Josh Ramage notched 21 saves and four steals for the Sunbirds.

The Tritons dominated from the start, scoring four goals in the first and second quarters to take an 8-0 advantage into the half. Kyle Eoff had FPU's only goal of the game, scoring in the seventh minute of the third quarter off a pass from Erik Brown.

UCSD added five more goals in the third and fourth quarters while shutting out the Sunbirds in the fourth frame.

Next, UCSD will travel to Berkeley to take on No. 1 California Saturday, September 16 at 1 p.m. The Tritons' dropped a game to the Bears earlier this season at the Triton Invitational.

UC San Diego 18, Fresno Pacific 1
UCSD              4          4          5          5          -           18
FPU                 0          0          1          0          -           1

Goals
UCSD: Arman Momdzhyan 6, Sklyer Munatones 2, Kacper Langiewicz 2, Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt 2, Alessandro Valania 2, Calder Hilde-Jones 1, Carson Ivancovich 1, Nolan Ortega 1, Jackson Ranj 1.

FPU: Kyle Eoff 1.

Saves
UCSD: Sam Thompson 7, Oleg Koujikov 6.

FPU: Josh Ramage 21

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