RIVERSIDE, Calif. -Â The No. 14 UC San Diego men's water polo team remained unbeaten in conference play following a 13-11 victory at No. 16 California Baptist Thursday evening.
With their third-consecutive win, the Tritons improved to 7-9 overall and 4-0 in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The Lancers dropped to 12-8 and 2-2 and had their three-game win streak come to an end.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
Manuel Augusto,
Rhys Bugelli, and
Vedran Latkovic scored three goal apiece in the game.
Brendan Nugent found the back of the net twice, while
Max Carrillo and
Connor McManigal had single goals to round out the scoring for the Tritons.
California Baptist got out to an early lead after scoring the first two goals of the game in the opening two minutes of play. However, UC San Diego regrouped in a a big way and scored four unanswered goals before the end of the quarter.
The second quarter saw both teams net four goals each. UC San Diego spread the scoring around as Bugelli, Latkovic, McManigal, and Nugent all recorded a goal in the quarter. The Tritons held an 8-6 lead heading into halftime.
The Lancers found some fire early in the third period, scoring three-straight goals to take a 9-8 lead with just under two minutes to play. The Tritons earned the lead back before the quarter ended with goals from Augusto and Carrillo.
In the fourth quarter, the teams traded goals to start, making the score 11-10 with the Tritons hanging on to a one-goal lead. With 3:19 remaining in regulation, CBU got a goal from Toby Bumgardner that brought the contest even at 11-11. UC San Diego finished strong though, scoring the game's final two goals. Bugelli put the team back up, 12-11, with a strike at the 3:07 mark. Nugent added some insurance with his second goal of the game, which came with 40 seconds left.
Augusto finished with five points on the night as he added two assists to his stat line.
Alexander Nemeth made nine saves in net for UC San Diego to earn his sixth victory of the year.
For California Baptist, Bumgardner and Joseph Griffin each scored twice. Seven other Lancers had single goals. Tristan Felberg ended his night with seven saves.
Shots were 29-27 in favor of the Lancers.
WHAT HEAD COACH MATT USTASZEWSKI HAD TO SAY
"It was a very tense environment and there were a lot of momentum shifts in the game. Our scholar-athletes showed tremendous resiliency to overcome CBU's initial push and then they were able to fight through some adversity to hold onto the victory. I'm very proud of how they performed tonight."
TRITON TIDBITS
• Bugelli continued his scoring ways to remain the only Triton to have scored in all 16 of the team's games.
• Latkovic extended his scoring streak to nine games with multiple goals coming in eight of those.
• It was the fifth multiple-goal game for Augusto this season. He has recorded three hat tricks in 2022.
• It was the second five-point performance by Augusto this season, his first coming against LMU on Sept. 21.
• It was the fourth multiple-goal game for Nugent this season.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays two non-conference games on Friday, Oct. 7. The Tritons take on Westcliff at 9 a.m. and Austin College at 11:45 a.m. Both contests will be held at Splash! in La Mirada. On Saturday, Oct. 7, at 1 p.m., UC San Diego plays at third-ranked UCLA.
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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 III and II 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.
