BERKELEY, Calif. – For the second time this week, the ninth-ranked University of California San Diego men's water polo team defeated No. 17 Loyola Marymount as the Tritons earned a 13-8 win Saturday at the Nor Cal Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational at Cal. They followed up with a 15-6 victory against No. 13 UC Irvine.
With the dual wins, UC San Diego improves to 9-4.
The Tritons also defeated LMU on Wednesday night in La Jolla when
Vedran Latkovic scored with just 15 seconds left in the game to make it 14-13 in favor of UC San Diego.
It was the first meeting between the Tritons and Anteaters this season.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
In the first game of the day, Loyola Marymount took an early lead by scoring the opening goal just 59 seconds in. However, UC San Diego netted the next three goals of the quarter and never trailed again.
The Tritons had their most productive offensive output in the third quarter, scoring six times to bring an 11-5 advantage into the final stanza.
Nine different players scored for UC San Diego, including
Calder Hilde-Jones, who found the net three times.
Kaden Likins and
Alex Zamanian each had a pair of goals. Likins also added an assist for three points in the game.
Goalkeeper
Alexander Nemeth got the win, making six saves over three quarters.
Bennett Kienast took over in the fourth and finished with two stops.
UC San Diego was 3-for-10 on power play opportunities and owned a slight 24-22 lead in shots. The Triton defense held LMU to two goals over 12 extra-man situations.
UC San Diego wasted no time getting in front of UC Irvine by scoring five goals in the first quarter. Leading 5-1 heading into the second frame, the Tritons scored another three while keeping the Anteaters off the board.
The third and fourth quarters were closer, but UC San Diego out-paced UC Irvine by a goal in each, 4-3 in the third and 3-2 in the fourth.
Five of the Tritons' goals came on the power play.
Hilde-Jones struck four times for a goal, while Likins racked up four points on three goals and an assist.
Manuel Augusto found the net twice for the Tritons.
Again, the UC San Diego defense was strong as it stymied UC Irvine on the power play, allowing just one goal in 16 opportunities.
Overall, the Anteaters held a 29-26 advantage in shots.
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QUOTABLE FROM HEAD COACH DENNY HARPER
We played terrific defense in both games today.
It was a quick turnaround from the LMU game at 8 a.m. this morning and then having to play UC Irvine at noon. It was the first game of the day for UCI.
The guys really stepped up and played a really solid game.
Hopefully, we can finish off the tournament with one more victory tomorrow.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• The nation's top-11 teams plus No. 13, No. 16, and No. 17 are competing in Berkeley.
• Though UC San Diego, LMU, and UC Irvine are Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) rivals, today's games were non-conference contests.
• UC San Diego has totaled 200 goals over 13 matches, an average of 15.4 goals per game.
•
Calder Hilde-Jones has scored at least one goal in all 13 games this season.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego closes out tournament action Sunday in Berkeley as it goes up against No. 11 San Jose State at 1 p.m. The action can be followed with
live stats.
For the team's 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.
