LOS ANGELES — The UC San Diego men's water polo team saw a five-goal lead slip away in the fourth quarter as Loyola Marymount stormed back to take a 13-12 victory in overtime Saturday at the Burns Aquatics Center.
With the non-conference loss, the Tritons dropped to 13-11 on the year. Winners of four of their last five games, the Lions improved to 12-6.
It was the second one-goal loss for UC San Diego against LMU this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
LMU's Jonny Rimlinger scored with 39 seconds remaining in the first three-minute overtime period, which stood as the game-winner as both teams went scoreless in the second extra frame.
With UC San Diego leading, 10-5, after three quarters of play, the Lions went on a 7-2 scoring run in the fourth. Abel Romero Corbalan got things going with a power play goal 59 seconds in. Tommaso Baldineti recorded a hat trick in the fourth, while Jonny Rimlinger scored twice in the period.Two of Baldineti's goals came off back-to-back five-meter penalty shots, his second getting the Lions back within one at 12-11. With a mere eight seconds left in regulation, Richie Rimlinger converted on a power play opportunity to knot it at 12-12, the first tie score since a 1-1 count just a minute into the opening quarter. Richie Rimlinger happened to score that equalizer on a power play as well.
A
Kaden Likins five-meter penalty shot goal at the 6:08 mark of the first quarter put the Tritons up 2-1 and they never relinquished their lead until Rimlinger's game-tying strike in the waning seconds of the fourth.
Rhys Bugelli netted a power play goal at 1:18 of the third to give UC San Diego a five-goal lead, its largest of the game. Bugelli's goal was the third-consecutive by the Tritons as Matt Wastila and
Lucas Romaguera scored the first and second in the series.
Four UC San Diego players scored twice in the game including Bugelli,
Ante Buzov, Romaguera, and
Miles Wilson. Buzov and Wilson both added assists to finish with three points. Likins also totaled three points on a goal and two assists.
Triton goalie
Logan Estes equaled his career-high with 14 saves over 38 minutes of play.
Baldineti led all players with six points coming off four goals and a pair of assists. Jonny Rimlinger amassed five points with four goals and an assist, while Romero Corbalan had four points on a goal and three assists.
LMU held a 41-31 advantage in shots. The Tritons were charged with 21 exclusions while the Lions were whistled for 12.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• In the national rankings, UC San Diego is 11 and LMU is 12.
• UC San Diego fell to Loyola Marymount, 11-10, on Sept. 27 in La Jolla.
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Logan Estes also had 14 saves against UC Irvine on Oct. 6 to establish a new career-high.
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Lucas Romaguera has totaled 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) over his last four outings.
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Kaden Likins has 13 points and seven assists over his last four games.
• Eleven players made their career debuts for the Tritons on Saturday, Sept. 2, during the Triton Invitational including
Landon Akerstrom,
Jaime Bhattacharyya,
Finn Bugelli,Â
Emiliano Castro,
Felipe 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 returns to Big West play at UC Santa Barbara on Oct. 29.
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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.
