LONG BEACH, Calif. — UC San Diego men's water polo lost a heartbreaker at Big West opponent Long Beach State Friday night, falling 13-12 in sudden victory.
The Tritons are now 12-10 overall and 1-2 in conference action. The Beach improved to 14-9 and 1-2 after getting its first Big West victory of the season.
UC San Diego is ranked No. 12/14 in the latest national polls and Long Beach State is No. 9/11.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
Caleb Francisco scored the game-winning goal on a power play at the 2:34 mark of the seventh period.
The teams were even at 4-4 midway through the contest as each of the sides tallied one goal in the opening quarter and three in the second period.
The Beach won the third quarter, 3-2, but the Tritons returned the favor in the fourth, out-scoring its opponent 4-3 to make it 10-10 and send the game into extra periods.
Long Beach scored twice in the first three-minute overtime to go up 12-10. UC San Diego matched that in the second overtime with goals from
Landon Akerstrom and
Lucas Romaguera. Romaguera's score with 32 seconds left in the stanza tied it yet again, this time at 12-12.
The seventh frame was sudden victory, with the first team to find the net coming up a winner.
All in all, Akerstrom and Romaguera finished with three goals each for the Tritons.
Bennett Axline and
Felipe Ferreira each netted a pair. Akerstrom had a four-point night by adding an assist to his totals.
Logan Estes made 10 saves in net.
Gabi Acosta, Evan Cain, and Francisco each scored three times for Long Beach. Goalie Aaron Wilson turned aside 11 scoring bids.
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TRITON TIDBITS
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Landon Akerstrom upped his goal-scoring streak to 13 games.
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Logan Estes has had at least one steal in each of his last seven games with multiple steals in four of those.
• The Tritons defeated the Beach 11-10 last season - in overtime.
• The last time UC San Diego went to sudden victory was 2022. LMU earned a 10-9 win in La Jolla.
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UP NEXT
UC San Diego hosts Whittier on Saturday, Oct. 26 at noon. It will be Youth Day and the first 100 kids 12 and under will get free UC San Diego sunglasses.
Tickets for home games 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.
