LA JOLLA, Calif. — Lucas Romaguera registered a hat trick but it wasn't enough as the UC San Diego men's water polo team dropped a hard-fought, 9-7 decision to Stanford Friday afternoon at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
Following the results of the non-conference match-up, the Tritons fell to 6-4 on the season while the Cardinal improved to 5-2.
UC San Diego had won its previous two games including an 11-10 overtime victory against Long Beach State Thursday night in the teams' first Big West contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Stanford scored the first two goals of the game in the opening quarter before Romaguera notched his first goal on a power play at the 2:08 mark to get the Tritons on the board.
In a quiet second period, the Cardinal tallied the lone goal on a power play with just 27 seconds left until halftime to go up by a score of 3-1.
The third quarter saw UC San Diego score three goals to Stanford's two. Trailing 4-2,
Bennett Axline and
Kaden Likins netted back-to-back goals to even the game at 4-4 with 2:23 remaining. At 1:05, Grant Watson scored to put the Cardinal back in front.
Romaguera struck for his second goal of the game on a power play 53 seconds into the fourth quarter, bringing the score even again, this time at 5-5.
Stanford netted three-straight goals between the 5:49 and 4:13 marks, two of those coming from Jackson Painter, to take a three-goal advantage at 8-5.
Romaguera completed his hat trick on a five-meter penalty shot with 3:36 left in the fourth. Painter answered at 2:39 with his fifth goal of the day to push Stanford's cushion back to three at 9-6.
Ante Buzov's goal with 2:28 left rounded out the scoring for both teams. From that point, UC San Diego got off five shots, including a five-meter penalty attempt, but could not bury anything.
Romageura finished with four points as he added an assist to go along with his goal trifecta.
Landon Akerstrom totaled four points on a goal and three assists. Buzov and Akerstrom each had three steals.
Logan Estes matched his career high with 12 saves in net for the Tritons.
For Stanford, Painter had six points on his five goals plus an assist. Ethan Parrish assisted on three goals and Griffen Price made eight saves.
The Cardinal held a two-shot advantage, 28-26. They were four-for-11 (.364) on the power play, while the Tritons were three-for-12 (.250).
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HIGHLIGHT REEL
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INTERVIEW WITH HEAD COACH MATT USTASZEWSKI
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TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego is ranked 13 (ACWPC)/14 (CWPA), while Stanford is 4 (ACWPC)/6 (CWPA).
• It was the second hat trick for
Lucas Romaguera this season as he had three goals against Navy on Sept. 3.
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Landon Akerstrom has scored in all 10 games with multiple goals in six.
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Bennett Axline has scored in all 10 games with multiple goals in six.
• Eleven players made their career debuts for the Tritons on Saturday, Sept. 2, during the Triton Invitational including Akerstrom,
Jaime Bhattacharyya,
Finn Bugelli,
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 heads to the Overnght Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational, hosted by UCLA and USC, next week. Friday, the Tritons open against Pepperdine at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center at 1:30 p.m. Saturday's and Sunday's games depend on results. Other teams at the tourney will be California, California Baptist, Long Beach State, Occidental, Pomona-Pitzer, Princeton, Santa Clara, Stanford, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, and Whittier.
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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.
