LOS ANGELES — UC San Diego men's water polo scored a season-high 22 goals in a win over Occidental before falling to UC Irvine by a single goal Saturday at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational.
The score against the Tigers was 22-6, while the Anteaters edged the Tritons 10-9.
With the split, UC San Diego moves to 7-6 on the season.
UCLA and USC are co-hosting the tournament at Spieker Aquatics Center and Uytengsu Aquatics Center. All of UC San Diego's games will be played at Spieker on the campus of UCLA.
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AGAINST OCCIDENTAL
UC San Diego wasted no time getting to it, scoring six consecutive goals in the opening five minutes of the game.
Landon Akerstrom gave the Tritons a 2-0 lead with back-to-back strikes in the first two minutes. Up next were
Rhys Bugelli,
Jaime Bhattacharyya,
Nolan Roberts, and
Lucas Romaguera, who all netted single goals.
Occidental got on the board with a Zane Derrod goal at 2:32 of the first, but that would be all the Tigers would get in the first eight minutes of the game.
The Tritons added three more goals in the first - one from
Kaden Likins, another from Akerstrom and another from Bhattacharyya, making it 9-1. Bhattacharyya's second of the game came just before the final horn of the quarter.
The second quarter saw UC San Diego score four goals. Romaguera and
Ante Buzov led things off with goals in the first 2:04.
Following a three minute-plus goalless span, Occidental tallied back-to-back goals. That was answered by Romaguera and Akerstrom goals, which had the Tritons leading 14-3 at the halftime break.
In the second half, UC San Diego out-scored its opponent 9-3.
Five different Tritons scored multiple goals in the game, led by Akerstrom, who finished with four. Bhattacharyya, Romaguera, and
Matthew Wastila all notched hat tricks. Likins was the points leader of the game, collecting six on four assists and two goals. The senior also added three steals and drew three exclusions. Romaguera assisted on two goals for five total points.
Nolan Roberts and
Miles Wilson each had four steals.
Splitting the game in half,
Logan Estes made five saves, three of those coming on five-meter penalty shots, and
Nikita Valajev had four stops. They each collected two steals.
Six different players accounted for Occidental's six goals. Jack Schroeder made nine saves over 16 minutes and James Derrod had three.
The Tigers were stymied during extra-man situations, going scoreless in 14 opportunities.
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AGAINST UC IRVINE
UC San Diego never a took a lead against UC Irivne, but kept it close by tying the game on three occasions. The final knot came in the fourth quarter when
Lucas Romaguera scored to make it 9-9 with 5:01 left to play. However, Anteater Thomas Cass netted the eventual game-winning goal at the 1:36 mark.
In addition, the game was even at 2-2 (first quarter) and 7-7 (third quarter).
UC Irvine's largest lead was three, which occurred on three occasions, the final time at 7-4 with 27 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Kaden Likins scored three goals, his second hat trick of the season.
Rhys Bugelli and
Brendon Fezzey each had a pair of goals, while
Felipe Ferreira scored once.
Logan Estes made 10 saves while playing all 32 minutes.
For UCI, Cass, Tyler Padua, and Gage Verdegaal had two goals apiece. Jacob Pyle had four saves.
UC Irvine out-shot UC San Diego 33-23. Neither team was effective on the power play with the Tritons going 2-for-9 (.222) and the Anteaters going 1-for-13 (.077).
The two squads meet again on Oct. 6 in a Big West match-up at Canyonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.
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TRITON TIDBITS
• In the national rankings, UC San Diego is ninth (ACWPC and CWPA), while UC Irvine is 11th (ACWPC) and 12th (CWPA).
• The 22 goals against Occidental were the most by the Tritons since putting up 25 at Fresno Pacific on Sept. 8, 2022 (25-8 win).
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Matthew Wastila's three goals and four points vs. Occidental were both career-highs.
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Landon Akerstrom scored four goals vs. Occidental and was held scoreless for the first time this season by UCI.
• Akerstrom currently leads the Tritons in goals (25) and points (36) and is second in steals (17) behind goalie
Logan Estes (22).
• UC San Diego is 1-2 at the tournament with one more game remaining on Sunday. Friday, the Tritons were defeated by Pepperdine, 15-12.
• 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
To close out the MPSF Invitational, UC San Diego goes up against California Baptist Sunday 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 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.
