CLAREMONT, Calif. – The eighth-ranked University of California San Diego men's water polo team split a pair of matches Saturday at the Inland Empire Classic, falling 15-8 to top-ranked and reigning national champion UCLA before returning to Axelrood Pool and handily defeating Whittier, 20-7.
The Tritons are now 5-2 on the season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED PART 1
With the score 8-7 in favor of UCLA at halftime, UC San Diego was held to a single goal in the second half of the game.
The Tritons took an early lead when
Calder Hilde-Jones scored at 6:21 of the first quarter. Less than two minutes later they went up 2-0 when
Manuel Augusto found the back of the net at 4:46. The Bruins quickly tied it up with back-to-back scores, but UC San Diego returned the favor when
Vedran Latkovic and
Karlo Krmek both scored within a minute of each other to give the lead back to the Tritons, 4-2, with 1:56 left in the first. UCLA again pulled even with goals at 1:17 and :52 to close out the quarter with the score knotted at 4-4.
UCLA struck first in the second period, netting a pair of goals in the first three minutes to make it 6-4. UC San Diego got one back when
Miles Wilson scored on a penalty shot at 4:29. Following the Bruins' seventh goal, the Tritons were able to pull even at 7-7 with goals from Krmek at 3:07 and Latkovic at 1:19. With just two seconds on the clock before halftime, UCLA put one in to make it 8-7 in favor of the Bruins.
In a low-scoring third quarter, UCLA put two more on the board while UC San Diego's lone goal of the second half came from
Kaden Likins at 2:11. Heading into the fourth, UCLA led 10-8.
Jack Larsen notched back-to-back goals in a 30-second span to open the fourth quarter. The Bruins scored three more times, the last with :24 on the clock, to account for the final score.
UC San Diego got off 23 shots to UCLA's 33. Each team had two powerplay goals.
Alexander Nemeth was in net for the Tritons and he made 10 saves over the course of 32 minutes.
Larsen led UCLA with four goals and Garret Griggs made 11 stops in net for the Bruins.
QUOTABLE FROM HEAD COACH DENNY HARPER
"I thought we actually played well enough today to beat No. 1 UCLA, but in the second half we did not handle their pressure defense. That ultimately led to several easy goals. You generally don't win many games when you total 19 turnovers. Certainly not when you play a team like UCLA."
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HOW IT HAPPENED PART 2
UC San Diego scored early and often against Whittier, netting four in the first quarter and seven in the second to lead 11-2 at the half. The Tritons added five more in the third and four in the fourth to take the 20-7 victory.
For the Tritons, 12 different playerss scored in the game and four finished with multiple goals including
Connor McManigal (4),
Max Carrillo (3), Wilson (3), and
Brendan Nugent (2). Augusto, Hilde-Jones, Latkovic, Likins,
Jack Martin,
Will Riley,
Jack Ranj, and
Alex Zamanian all scored once.
Nemeth made three saves and
Bennett Kienast had two stops as the pair platooned in net.
Three Poets scored the bulk of Whittier's goals as Carlos Heredia Viteri, Maxwell Murphy, and Ricardo Reyes, Jr. each tallied two. Eric Borunda had the other.
UC San Diego fired 25 shots to Whittier's 20. The Tritons were 5-for-13 on powerplay opportunities.
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QUOTABLE FROM HEAD COACH DENNY HARPER
"Our second game today against Whittier was a total team effort. Everyone made a positive contribution against the Poets."
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego has totaled 110 goals over seven matches, just under 16 goals per game.
• It was the second time this season the Tritons netted 20 or more goals (22 vs. Westcliff on 9/5).
• Hilde-Jones and Latkovic lead UC San Diego in goals with 13 apiece.
• Augusto is the team's points leader with 20 on 12 goals and eight assists.
• Wilson is the fourth Triton to own a double-digit goal total with 11.
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UP NEXT
The Tritons remain on the road next week. On Sept. 16, they travel to Biola for a WWPA match and then visit UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 18. For the full season schedule, click
here.
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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.
