LA JOLLA, Calif. — The 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team split a pair of games to open its season Saturday, defeating Biola and falling to top-ranked California during the first of two days of the Triton Invitational.

The Tritons ran away with a 17-4 victory over Biola before dropping a 20-5 decision to two-time defending national champion Cal.

AGAINST BIOLA
UC San Diego scored early and often as well as late and often against Biola, netting eight goals in the first half and another nine in the second. The home team led 8-1 at halftime, starting out with five scores in the first stanza. They surrendered just a single goal to the Eagles in the opening quarter. The Tritons tacked on another five goals in the third quarter and finished with four more in the final period. Biola had a single goal in the third and added two more in the fourth.

Four UC San Diego players tallied multiple goals. Kaden Likins led the way with a hat trick and also assisted on a pair of goals to finish with five points. Playing in his first collegiate game, freshman Finn Bugelli found the net twice. Junior transfers Felipe Ferreira and Lucas Romaguera also had two goals apiece. Romaguera had three assists as well. Eight other Tritons had single goals, including true freshmen Landon Akerstrom and Nolan Roberts. Defensively, sophomore Brendon Fezzey had three of UC San Diego's 18 steals.

In net, junior Logan Estes made eight saves and had two steals, a new career-best.

Four different players scored one goal each for Biola. 

UC San Diego led 30-24 in shots and 18-9 in steals.

HIGHLIGHT REEL VS. BIOLA

 
AGAINST CAL
Akerstrom scored the first goal of the game at the 6:52 mark of the first quarter. However, the Golden Bears scored the next five goals and would hold a lead the rest of the way. They were in front 11-2 at halftime and outscored UC San Diego 9-3 in the second half.

Akerstrom had three points in the game with two goals and an assist. Likins scored his fourth goal of the day, while Ferreira and Bennett Axline rounded out the scoring for the Tritons.

Max Casabella, Marton Szatmary, and Roberto Valera all registered hat tricks. Valera dished out five assists to go along with his three goals.

Estes had five saves in net while his counterpart, Adrian Weinberg, had nine. 

HIGHLIGHT REEL VS. CAL

 
WHAT HEAD COACH MATT USTASZEWSKI HAD TO SAY
"There is always great excitement to the start of the fall season and we couldn't be more thrilled to play host to the opening weekend. It was incredible to see so many water polo supporters at Canyonview Aquatic Center today.

It was also tremendous to see so many of our scholar-athletes make their Division I collegiate debut today. We've integrated eleven incoming Tritons during a very short window of time, so we have been anticipating that all of our games to start the season will be challenging.

Biola University is a great representative of our former conference [Western Water Polo Association] and we knew it would be an exciting game to start the season. We were able to get into a nice rhythm in transition and utilize the quality of depth that our team has the potential to demonstrate.

All credit to the Bears. They demonstrated why they are again the favorite to win the National Championship, as we let a good opportunity to test ourselves against the nation's best slip away. With so many of our players playing together for the first time we learned some valuable lessons, ones that are necessary in order to grow together as a team."

TRITON TIDBITS
• Eleven players made their career debuts for the Tritons Saturday including Landon Akerstrom, Jaime Bhattacharyya, Finn Bugelli, Emiliano Castro, Felipe Ferreira, Eamon Hennessey, Reef Lippa, Augi Macchi, Mason Presley, Nolan Roberts, and Lucas Romaguera.
• UC San Diego's 17 goals vs. Biola were the most since it scored 19 against Austin College on Oct. 7, 2022.
• The Tritons have won six-straight season-opening games.
• Both Likins and Ferreira had six total points Saturday.
• Akerstrom and Romaguera each had five points today.
• 10 of the 14 competing teams are ranked among the national top-20.
• The top four teams in the country (Cal, USC, UCLA, and Stanford) are at the tourney.

UP NEXT
On the final day of the tourney Sunday, UC San Diego takes on No. 20 Navy at noon and No. 2 USC at 5 p.m.

TEAM RECORDS AFTER SATURDAY'S ACTION
No. 1 California, 2-0
No. 9 Long Beach State, 2-0
No. 20 Navy, 2-0
No. 3 UCLA, 2-0
No. 2 USC, 2-0
No. 4 Stanford, 1-1
No. 10 UC Irvine, 1-1
No. 11 UC San Diego, 1-1
No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, 1-1
Biola, 0-2
Cal State Fullerton, 0-2
No. 17 California Baptist, 0-2
Concordia, 0-2
Pomona-Pitzer, 0-2

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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.