LA MIRADA, Calif. - The 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team extended its win streak to five Friday with a pair of wins during The Joust tournament at Splash! Aquatics Center in Los Angeles County.

The Tritons opened the morning with a 16-10 win against Westcliff and followed up with a commanding 19-3 dismantling of Austin College. Both games were non-conference affairs.

UC San Diego improved to an even 9-9 on the season. Westcliff fell to 13-12 while Austin dropped to 4-6.

It was UC San Diego's first-ever game against Austin and second-ever game against Westcliff.

AGAINST WESTCLIFF 
The opening quarter was close as both teams scored three goals. However, UC San Diego kicked it into high gear in the second stanza, out-scoring Westcliff 7-2. The Tritons held a lead the rest of the way.

Senior Vedran Latkovic accumulated six points on two goals and four assists. The assist total established a new single-game career-best for the Montenegrin.

Brendan Nugent and Max Abravanel each finished with four points - Nugent on three goals and an assist, Abravanel on four assists. Abravanel equaled his career-high assist and point totals, which he set last week against Biola.

Bennett Axline (three goals), Rhys Bugelli (two goals, one assist), and Kaden Likins (two goals, one assist) all contributed three points apiece.

In goal for the Tritons, Alexander Nemeth made five saves.

Mateja Bosic and Andrej Maodus accounted for 80 percent of Westcliff's scoring as each found the net four times. Roberto Barrera had nine saves.

UC San Diego held a 30-23 advantage in shots and converted on five of six extra-man opportunities. Westcliff scored just four times in 10 power play opportunities.

AGAINST AUSTIN 
UC San Diego scored often and early and was up by a 7-1 count following one quarter of play. Both teams scored twice in the second frame with one big difference - it would be the final quarter that Austin would find the net as the Tritons shut the Kangaroos out for the entire second half.

UC San Diego, on the other hand, went on to eclipse its first-half goal count of nine by tallying 10 in the second half.

Redshirt freshman Connor Macmitchell led the Tritons in scoring with a career-high five goals. Bugelli (two goals, two assists), Latkovic (four goals), and Miles Wilson (four assists) all had four points each. Nugent added three more points to his season total with a pair of goals and an assist.

Logan Estes got the start in goal for the Tritons and made a career-high 10 saves to earn the win and improve to 2-0 on the season. It was the first complete game for the sophomore.

An NCAA Division III program located in Sherman, Texas, Austin plays in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) East Division along with Augustana, Penn State Behrend, and Washington & Jefferson. The 'Roos were picked to win the division in the conference's preseason coaches poll.

TRITON TIDBITS
• California Baptist is hosting The Joust.
• The Tritons' five-game win streak is their longest since they reeled off 11-straight victories during the 2019 season.
• Bugelli continued his net-finding ways to remain the only Triton to score in all 18 of the team's games.
• Latkovic extended his scoring streak to 11 games with multiple goals coming in 10 of those.
• Estes' previous career-best save total was five.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays its fourth road game in three days Saturday when it travels to third-ranked UCLA for a 1 p.m. match-up.

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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.