LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC San Diego men's water polo program split on day two of the 2021 Triton Invite. The Tritons surged past Westcliff 22-6, but fell just short to No. 8 Long Beach State 11-7 at Canyonview Aquatic Center on Sunday, Sept. 5.
With the results, the Tritons move to 3-1 overall on the year.
HOW IT HAPPENED
vs. Westcliff
The Tritons got their offense going early on. Five individuals scored to put UC San Diego ahead 5-1 after just eight minutes of play. UC San Diego then went on a 7-0 run from :51 seconds in the first to 3:41 in the second. From that point on, it was all Tritons.
Jake Marquez achieved a hat trick in the second quarter alone, scoring two goals within 24 seconds of one another. His third came a little over a minute later.
Will Riley filled the stat line with a team-high four assists, two steals, a drawn exclusion and one goal on four shot attempts.
Berk Aksoy was also big on sharing the ball, dishing out three assists himself.
In addition to Marquez,
Aram Nordanyan (3),
Vedran Latkovic (2),
Max Carrillo (2),
Miles Wilson,
Calder Hilde-Jones (2), and
Connor King (2) all contributed multiple goals in the Tritons' commanding performance.
Goalkeepers
Bennett Kienast and
Logan Estes split time in the cage, tallying five saves each as the Tritons smoothly sailed to a perfect 3-0 on the season.
vs. No. 8 Long Beach State
UC San Diego's fourth game of the Triton Invite was a back-and-forth battle with eighth-ranked Long Beach State.
The Tritons took an early 2-0 lead when
Karlo Krmek and
Kaden Likins both drilled the back of the net. The Beach retaliated shortly after to even the score 2-2 just under four minutes in the first.
Long Beach looked to go on a run after two quick goals in the second, putting them ahead 6-4, but C San Diego was resilient, refusing to fall short of no more than two points for the majority of the match.
Manuel Augusto nailed the equalizer at 6-6 well into the second and Askoy delivered for his team at 1:26 to carry a 7-7 tie into halftime.
Following the break, LBSU capitalized on two 6-on-5 opportunities and notched a pair of goals. With the Tritons down 9-7, goalkeeper Alex Nemeth made a huge penalty shot save, shifting momentum with a little over eight minutes remaining. The Beach would tack on two more goals down the stretch as the Tritons were narrowly edged and handed their first loss of the season.
QUOTABLE
Hear from Associate Head Coach Matt Ustaszewski following day two of the Triton Invite:
TRITON TIDBITS
- Sunday morning's 22-goal victory was the first time UC San Diego has tallied 20+ goals since 2018. The team accomplished the feat three times that same year.
- In the last 15 years, UC San Diego has gone 3-1 at the Triton Invite in four different seasons (2005, 2008, 2011, 2018). In 2006, the Tritons put up a tourney-best 4-0 to begin the season undefeated.
- Against the Beach, UC San Diego was just 4-for-10 in power play chances and were excluded 14 times, compared to LBSU's 12.
- Over the course of the four-game tournament, Vedran Latkovic led the Tritons in goals, recording nine overall and generated a shooting percentage of .391. Latkovic also posted a team-high five assists to match Riley's five.
- Brendon Nugent was 5-0 on sprints throughout all four games.
- The overall opponent records move to 1-0 against Westcliff and 19-54 against Long Beach State.
UP NEXT
The Tritons will remain at home to host Concordia-Irvine on Thursday, Sept. 9. The game is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will feature the first Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) contest for both teams this season. For the Tritons full 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 83 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.
