DAVIS, Calif. – The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team dominated Concordia in its opening Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship match Friday as it rolled to a 21-7 victory at the Schaal Aquatics Center on the campus of UC Davis.
Second-seeded UC San Diego improved to 14-8 on the season while seventh-seeded Concordia fell to 8-16.
Next up, UC San Diego will take on third-seeded California Baptist on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
The tournament concludes Sunday with the winner earning an automatic berth in the upcoming National Collegiate Championships.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego led 10-4 after the first half of play and out-scored Concordia 11-3 in the second stanza.
More than half of the Tritons' goals came on the power play as they scored 11 times in 14 man-up opportunities, good for a .786 percentage. One goal was on a penalty shot.
The 21 goals came from 27 total shots, a .778 shooting percentage.
Alex Zamanian, who had 10 goals coming into the match, scored four today.
Vedran Latkovic finished with three goals, while
Manuel Augusto,
Calder Hilde-Jones,
Connor McManigal, and
Will Riley scored two goals each. The remainder of the scoring came from single strikes by
Max Abravanel,
Berk Aksoy,
Rhys Bugelli, Max Carillo,
Aram Nordanyan, and
Miles Wilson.
Alexander Nemeth and
Bennett Kienast split time in net. Nemeth, who played the first half, was called upon to make four saves. Kienast turned aside five shots on goal in the second half. Nemeth also recorded two steals and an assist. He leads the Tritons with 20 steals. It was his third assist of the season.
Hilde-Jones kept his scoring streak intact and has tallied at least one goal in all 22 games this season. Today's two-goal performance was his 17th multiple-goal outing in 2021.
Austin Wade scored twice and three keepers combined to make three saves for the Eagles.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego is on the hunt for its 20th WWPA Championship title.
• The last time the Tritons won the WWPA crown was in 2018.
• The Tritons defeated Concordia, 19-4, on September 9 in La Jolla.
• UC San Diego is now 8-1 all-time against Concordia and the Tritons have won the last five match-ups.
• The last time Concordia defeated UC San Diego was in 2013.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego and third-seeded California Baptist meet in a tournament semifinal on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
The Tritons defeated the Lancers by a score of 17-7 on October 15 in La Jolla.
California Baptist topped sixth-seeded Santa Clara, 15-10, Friday to secure their spot in Saturday's semifinal against the Tritons.
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TOURNAMENT RESULTS/SCHEDULE
Friday, November 19 - First Round
Game 1: #9 Biola 10, #8 Fresno Pacific 9
Game 2: #2 UC San Diego 21, #7 Concordia 7
Game 3: #3 California Baptist 15, #6 Santa Clara 10
Game 4: #4 Loyola Marymount 13, #5 Air Force 6
Game 5: #1 UC Davis 21, #9 Biola 5
Saturday, November 20
Game 6 (8am): #8 Fresno Pacific vs. #7 Concordia
Game 7 (9:30am): #3 California Baptist vs. #2 UC San Diego (Semifinal) (
Live Video |
Live Stats)
Game 8 (11am): #4 Loyola Marymount vs. #1 UC Davis (Semifinal)
Game 9 (12:30pm):Â #6 Santa Clara vs. #5 Air Force
Game 10 (2pm):Â #9 Biola vs #7 Concordia
Sunday, November 21
Game 11 (10am): Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7 (Third-Place Match)
Game 12 (12pm):Â Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 (Championship Match)
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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.
