COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Ninth-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo fell to No. 20 Air Force, 15-13, in Colorado Springs on Friday night in its third Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) match of the season.
 
The Tritons are now 9-6 overall (2-1 WWPA) after finishing 2-2 at the Nor Cal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational last weekend.
 
The Falcons improved to 12-2 (2-0 WWPA) and secured a winning season.
  
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Tritons couldn't get anything going early in the opening quarter, falling behind 6-0 quickly. UC San Diego was forced to battle back from the deficit for the remainder of the game.
 
After eight scoreless minutes for UC San Diego, Vedran Latkovic scored back-to-back goals to put the Tritons on the board, trailing 6-2.   
 
AJ Kuypers was a wall between the posts for Air Force with nine saves and three steals. 
 
Midway through the second quarter, Kaden Likins came alive, adding three goals to his name within three minutes. He got the scoring started for UC San Diego in the second frame, putting it past Kuypers on a penalty shot. His third goal came with an assist from Karlo Krmek to make it 8-5 and cut the original deficit in half with three minutes remaining in the half.
 
Likins lead the Tritons in scoring with four goals on the day.
 
The Tritons made a run just before half, Calder Hilde-Jones found the back of the net twice and Trevor Moore slid it past the keeper to cut the Falcons lead to 10-8 at halftime.
 
Air Force was first on the board again in the second half and headed into the final quarter up 13-9.
 
Down 15-10, Berk Aksoy notched back-to-back goals with 2:30 remaining in the contest, but it wouldn't be enough. UC San Diego desperately tried to cement a comeback as time ran out, but Air Force defense came out on top, making the necessary stops.

Latkovic ended his day with 10 shots, three goals and an assist.

Six different Tritons found twine in the loss.
 
TRITON TIDBITS

• Air Force's win snaps a nine-game win-streak for the Tritons in the series between the two teams.
• UC San Diego has totaled 226 goals over 15 matches, an average of 15.1 goals per game.
• Latkovic now leads the team in goals on the season with 34.
• Hilde-Jones has scored at least one goal in all 15 games this season.

 
UP NEXT
The Tritons return home to host Long Beach State on Wednesday, October 6. Action at Canyonview Aquatic Center will begin at 6 p.m.
 
For the team's full season schedule, click here.

About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.