FRESNO, Calif. — A season-high goal output led the 13th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team to a 25-9 victory at Fresno Pacific Thursday night in both teams' Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) season opener.

The Tritons, who snapped a three-game losing streak, improved to 2-3 overall. It was the first game of the season for the Sunbirds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego scored the first three goals of the game and never trailed. Fresno Pacific got back within one at 4-3, but the Tritons weren't having it as they netted the next eight goals of the game to bring it to 12-3 in the second quarter and led 14-4 at halftime.

UC San Diego made the most of their shots, scoring on 25 of 28 attempts for an .893 percentage. The Tritons were also solid on the power play, converting on eight of 12 extra-man situations. They also went 3-for-3 on penalty shots.

Individually, Connor Macmitchell paced UC San Diego as he finished with six points on four goals and a pair of assists. Vedran Latkovic was just behind, netting four goals to go along with an assist for five points. Bennett Axline (four goals) and Kaden Likins (two goals, two assists) had four points each.

In net, Alexander Nemeth played three quarters and Logan Estes closed the game out. The duo combined for eight saves, each recording four. Nemeth earned his first victory of the season.

For the Sunbirds, Will Green scored three goals while Eugenio Maldonado found the back of the net twice.

TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego is 10-0 all-time against Fresno Pacific.
• The 25 goals were the most for UC San Diego since Sept. 16, 2021, when the team scored 25 in a win at Biola.
• It was the second time in five games this season that the Tritons scored at least 20 goals (22-8 win over La Verne on Sept. 3).
• Vedran Latkovic continues to lead the Tritons in goals (17) and points (23).
• Rhys Bugelli, the reigning University Credit Union Athlete of the Week, is the lone Triton that has scored in all five games this season.

UP NEXT
UC San Diego travels to Berkeley to take on California, the nation's top-ranked team, on Saturday, Sept. 10, at 10 a.m.
 
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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.