FULLERTON, Calif. — Nine different Tritons scored to lift the UC San Diego men's water polo team to a 16-9 Big West win at Cal State Fullerton Friday night.
With the win, the Tritons improved to 12-10 overall and 2-1 in conference action. The Titans dropped to 15-9 and 0-2.
It was the first meeting between the two squads since 1984.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal State Fullerton's Togan Ozbek scored the game's first goal just over a minute in on a power play. At the 5:20 mark of the first quarter,
Landon Akerstrom got UC San Diego on the board. At 3:44,
Brendon Fezzey found the net to give the Tritons a 2-1 lead and they stayed ahead the rest of the way. Both Triton goals came during man-up situations.
A goal by
Kaden Likins with 5:32 remaining in the game put UC San Diego up by nine, 16-7, the Tritons' largest lead of the night.
Cal State Fullerton scored the game's last two goals, both on power plays.
Tritons
Rhys Bugelli and
Lucas Romaguera led all players with six points apiece. Bugelli finished with three goals and three assists, while Romaguera scored once and assisted on five other goals. Romaguera's point and assist totals were both career-highs. Bugelli's six points equaled his career-high. Center
Bennett Axline scored four times and drew five exclusions. Akerstrom and Fezzey each had two goals.
Logan Estes started in net for the Tritons and made four saves over three quarters to get the win.
Nikita Valajev played the fourth frame and made three saves, one of those coming during a five-meter penalty shot by the Titans.
UC San Diego was on target with its shooting, scoring 16 times off of 27 attempts, good for a 59 percent shooting percentage.
Ozbek registered a hat trick for Cal State Fullerton, while Bende Aubeli scored twice. Garrett Henderson made four stops in goal.
In 13 power play opportunities, Cal State Fullerton scored seven times, 54 percent.
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WHAT HEAD COACH MATT USTASZEWSKI HAD TO SAY
"We're excited that Cal State Fullerton has brought back men's water polo and helped to form the Big West. We are thrilled to get back to winning ways in conference play. It was important for the team to focus on what we could control and we did that adequately tonight. We look forward to returning home tomorrow and playing in front of our fans at Canyonview."
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego is ranked 11th nationally in the ACWPC poll as well as the CWPA poll.
•
Rhys Bugelli has totaled six points in a game three times during his career.
•
Bennett Axline has drawn at least five exclusions in seven games this season.
• UC San Diego won all four sprints in the game.
• UC San Diego is now 5-1 all-time against Cal State Fullerton. The Titans won the first-ever match-up in 1981 and the Tritons took the next four through the 1984 season.
• Eleven players made their career debuts for the Tritons on Saturday, Sept. 2, during the Triton Invitational including Akerstrom,
Jaime Bhattacharyya,
Finn Bugelli,Â
Emiliano Castro, Ferreira,
Eamon Hennessey,
Reef Lippa,
Augi Macchi,
Mason Presley,
Nolan Roberts, and
Lucas Romaguera.
• The Big West is sponsoring men's water polo for the first time in 32 years. Its last period with the sport was 1984-91.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego hosts Westcliff in a non-conference game on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 1 p.m. Tickets are available through the
Triton Box Office.
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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 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.
