LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Battle of the Kings returns to rock Canyonview Aquatic Center on Sept. 21 as the 14th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team hosts No. 10 Loyola Marymount at 6 p.m.
It's Tritons vs. Lions with royal supremacy on the line.
Last year's game came down to the wire. With 12 seconds remaining in regulation,
Vedran Latkovic scored to give the Tritons a 14-13 victory in front of almost 1,000 fans!
UC San Diego comes in with a 3-6 overall record, while LMU brings a 6-1 record to La Jolla.
THIS WEEK'S ACTION
Game 10 - Non-Conference Match
No. 14
UC San Diego (3-6) vs. No. 10 Loyola Marymount (6-1)
Wednesday, Sept. 21 | 6:00 p.m.
Canyonview Aquatic Center | La Jolla, Calif. |
Map
Live Stats |
Live Video |
Tickets |
Gameday Program
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All-Time Series: UC San Diego leads 55-26
FOAM DOME
The first 750 students at Wednesday's game will receive a FREE King Triton crown! Doors open at 5 p.m.!
ABOUT THE UC SAN DIEGO TRITONS
Roster |
Schedule & Results |
Statistics
• Overall: 3-6
• WWPA: 2-0
• Home: 1-4
• Away: 2-2
• Neutral: 0-0
• Streak: L1
• vs. Nationally-Ranked Teams: 0-6
• CWPA national ranking: 13
• WWPA Preseason Poll: 2nd of 9
ABOUT THE LOYOLA MARYMOUNT LIONS
Roster |
Schedule & Results
• Overall: 6-1
• WWPA: 3-0
• Home: 2-1
• Away: 4-0
• Neutral: 0-0
• Streak: L1
• vs. Nationally-Ranked Teams: 1-1
• CWPA national ranking: 15
• WWPA Preseason Poll: 4th of 9
HISTORY LESSON
The Battle of the Kings is typically held during the first week that UC San Diego students return to campus. It has taken place on a Wednesday evening every year since 2012.
Going back to 2005, UC San Diego leads the series 9-6 (there were no match-ups in 2010 and 2020). The Tritons have out-scored the Lions 162-139 over those 15 games. Since 2012, the Tritons have posted a commanding 7-2 record.
2021: UC San Diego 14, LMU 13
2020: No game due to COVID
2019: LMU 17, UC San Diego 16
2018: UC San Diego 22, LMU 12
2017: UC San Diego 15, LMU 5
2016: UC San Diego 11, LMU 10
2015: LMU 13, UC San Diego 12 (SV)
2014: UC San Diego 7, LMU 2
2013: UC San Diego 11, LMU 7
2012: UC San Diego 10, LMU 8
2011: LMU 12, UC San Diego 10
2010: No game
2009: LMU 7, UC San Diego 4
2008: LMU 12, UC San Diego 11
2007: LMU 9, UC San Diego 4
2006: UC San Diego 8, LMU 7
2005: UC San Diego 7, LMU 5
LATKOVIC THE LEADER
Senior
Vedran Latkovic currently leads the Tritons in point production with 32 on 24 goals and 8 assists. His goal total is also tops on the team. The Montenegran has scored a goal in seven of nine matches and has netted no fewer than two scores in those seven games. His six goals against UC Santa Barbara on Sept. 4 equaled his single-game career-high (9/26/21 at San Jose State).
RHYS THE BEAST
Sophomore
Rhys Bugelli has started off strong this season. He enters the week with 28 points (22 goals and 6 assists), four points behind team leader
Vedran Latkovic. Bugelli is the lone Triton to have netted at least one goal in all nine games in 2022. In fact, he has finished with multiple goals in six of nine games, including a career-best five at top-ranked Cal on Sept. 10.
MILES STOCKPILES
Assists that is.
Miles Wilson currently leads UC San Diego in assists with 12. He has dished out at least one helper in seven of nine matches and has multiple in three games, which includes three-assist performances against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara and No. 10 Pepperdine during the Triton Invitational. Wilson tied for the team lead in assists in 2021, finishing with 26.
A QUICK GLANCE AT THE 2021 TRITONS
In 2021, UC San Diego posted a 14-10 overall record and went 6-2 in WWPA play. Ranked as high as No. 8 in the nation, the Tritons earned seven victories over other ranked teams including No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 9 UC Davis, No. 13 UC Irvine, No. 17 Loyola Marymount (twice), No. 18 California Baptist, and No. 20 Santa Clara. The team won its first match at the WWPA Championships, defeating Concordia 21-7, before falling to California Baptist and Loyola Marymount to end its season.
The Tritons return several key players in 2022 including senior
Vedran Latkovic, who led the team in point production with 69 on 53 goals and 16 assists. He netted at least one goal in 21 of 24 games played with one of his biggest coming with 12 seconds left on the clock to lift the Tritons to a 14-13 win against Loyola Marymount at home. Also back in the pool will be junior
Kaden Likins, who tied for second on the team with his 59 points. Likins scored 33 goals while dishing out 26 assists, which tied for the most helpers on the team. Senior
Manuel Augusto (31 goals, 55 points) and sophomore
Miles Wilson (29 goals, 55 points) return, as does junior goalkeeper
Alexander Nemeth, who posted a 13-8 record and led UC San Diego defensively with 22 steals.
Latkovic and Nemeth were selected to the All-WWPA Second Team while Likins was an All-WWPA Honorable Mention. Wilson was named to the WWPA All-Freshman Team.
THEY CALL HIM USHA
UC San Diego is led by first-year head coach Matt "Usha" Ustaszewski, who took over for Denny Harper as he announced his retirement in July after 42 years at the helm.
Ustaszewski earned his first victory as UC San Diego's head coach on Sept. 3, 2022, as the Tritons defeated La Verne, 22-8, in the team's season opener during the Triton Invitational.
In 2021, Ustaszewski completed his ninth season as associate head coach and 12th season overall on the UC San Diego men's water polo staff.
Usha is no stranger to the La Jolla campus. He was a co-captain of the fifth-ranked Triton water polo team as a senior in 2003 for under the tutelage of Harper. He graduated in 2004, completing his bachelor's degree in history (Europe emphasis) with a 3.5 grade-point average.
He also has extensive experience with Team USA. As an assistant coach in the summer of 2022, he helped the Men's National Team finish sixth at the FINA World Championships in Hungary. Team USA went 2-2 overall, which included a 16-15 penalty shootout victory against Hungary.Also during the summer of 2022, Ustaszewski was with Team USA when it won a silver medal at the FINA World League Super Final in France.
Ustaszewski served as the video coach for Team USA at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
For Usha's complete bio,
click here.
MOMDZHYAN BACK ON THE DECK
Former UC San Diego men's water polo standout
Arman Momdzhyan has returned to the program this season as an assistant coach.
Momdzhyan played for UC San Diego for two seasons after transferring from Los Angeles Valley College. He was named the Association of Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) NCAA Division II Player of the Year in both 2016 and 2017. Momdzhyan also earned ACWPC All-America Division II First Team as well as All-Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) First Team accolades in each of his seasons with the Tritons. Over 43 career games, he scored 98 goals and added 16 assists for 114 points. His 44 goals in 2016 led the team and his 54 goals in 2017 were second on the Triton roster. Momdzhyan led UC San Diego to back-to-back WWPA titles and a No. 9 national ranking.
The Glendale, Calif., native graduated from UC San Diego in 2018 with a bachelor's degree in human developmental sciences. He earned a master's in Kinesiology from Fresno Pacific.
For Momdzyhan's complete bio,
click here.
BUGELLI EARNS UNIVERSITY CREDIT UNION PLAYER OF THE WEEK
On Monday, Sept. 5, sophomore
Rhys Bugelli was named the University Credit Union Player of the Week for his performance during the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. Over four games, Bugelli accumulated 14 points on 10 goals and 4 assists. He netted at least one goal in every game and scored multiple goals in three of four. Against 10
th-ranked Pepperdine, Bugelli totaled six points on four goals and a pair of assists. Those point and goal totals were both career-bests. In action against No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, he scored another hat trick to go along with an assist.
FINAL HURRAH IN THE WWPA
This will be UC San Diego's final season as a member of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The Tritons will join The Big West when the conference begins sponsoring the sport in 2023. The team has enjoyed great success in the WWPA, winning 19 conference titles.
Expected to join the Tritons next season in The Big West are Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara. In addition, Cal State Fullerton announced that it will be adding men's and women's water polo in 2023. The Titans will give the league six teams, the minimum required to create a conference that can qualify for an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
The addition of men's water polo will give UC San Diego 17 teams competing in The Big West - baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's golf, men's and women's soccer, softball, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, and men's and women's volleyball, and men's and women's water polo. The UC San Diego women's water polo team has been in The Big West since 2020.
| 2022 WWPA PRESEASON COACHES POLL |
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
1st-Place Votes |
2021 Records |
| 1 |
UC Davis |
64 |
8 |
19-9/7-1 |
| 2 |
UC San Diego |
53 |
1 |
14-10/6-2 |
| 3 |
California Baptist |
49 |
- |
20-14/6-2 |
| 4 |
Loyola Marymount |
48 |
- |
12-14/6-2 |
| 5 |
Santa Clara |
33 |
- |
13-16/2-6 |
| 6 |
Air Force |
32 |
- |
17-9/5-3 |
| 7 |
Concordia |
21 |
- |
9-17/2-6 |
| 8 |
Fresno Pacific |
14 |
- |
7-22/2-6 |
| 9 |
Biola |
10 |
- |
3-22/0-8 |
| CWPA NATIONAL POLL (Sept. 21) |
| Rank |
Team |
Previous Poll |
| 1 |
California |
1 |
| 2 |
UCLA |
2 |
| 3 |
Stanford |
4 |
| 4 |
Pacific |
5 |
| 5 |
USC |
3 |
| 6 |
UC Davis |
6 |
| 7 |
Long Beach State |
7 |
| 8 |
UC Santa Barbara |
8 |
| 9 |
San Jose State |
10 |
| 10 |
Loyola Marymount |
15 |
| 11 |
Pepperdine |
9 |
| 12 |
Harvard |
14 |
| 13 |
UC Irvine |
12 |
| 14 |
UC San Diego |
13 |
| 15 |
Princeton |
11 |
| 16 (T) |
California Baptist |
16 |
| 16 (T) |
Fordham |
17 |
| 18 (T) |
Brown |
18 |
| 18 (T) |
St. Francis College Brooklyn |
19 |
| 20 |
George Washington |
RV |
GAME DAY GOES WITH YOU
Triton fans now have a whole new way to access game day information, as game programs have gone digital! Fans can visit
Game Day from their smart phone or scan the QR code at the entrance to Canyonview Aquatic Center for everything they need to know about each home game, including updated rosters, schedules, and stats for each team, as well as links to watch games live.
WHY THE TRITONS?
The Triton is described as the offspring of Poseidon and Amphitrite, a demigod of the sea with a lower part of the body like that of a fish. It is known as a mighty and fierce sea warrior. Given UC San Diego's close proximity to the Pacific Ocean and its connections with the world-famous Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the Triton became our mascot in 1964.
UC SAN DIEGO ATHLETICS LAUNCHES WEEKLY PODCAST
As part of UC San Diego's transition to Division I, the Athletics Department launched a weekly podcast,
Tritoncast. Produced by UC San Diego Athletics Communications, Tritoncast features in-depth interviews with UC San Diego personalities including scholar-athletes, alums, coaches, and administrators. Triton fans will get an inside look at the UC San Diego Athletics Department during its transition to NCAA Division I. New episodes of Tritoncast are available each week on the most popular podcasting apps. In addition, each episode can be heard and downloaded on UCSDTritons.com. For individual show information and listen links, follow Tritoncast on Twitter
@Tritoncast.
GET SOCIAL WITH MEN'S WATER POLO
Keep up with the Tritons all season long on social media through
Twitter and
Instagram. The team's handle is @ucsdmwp.
FOR THE YOUNGER CROWD
Got some young Triton fans in your family? If they are eighth grade or under, check out the
Junior Triton Club. Membership includes a free t-shirt, admission to over 100 UC San Diego home athletic events, and much more!
GEAR
For the latest Triton apparel and accessories,
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.
