LA JOLLA, Calif. — The 10th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team rolled to a 13-7 victory against Biola Saturday on Senior Day at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
With the win in its final home game of the season UC San Diego moved to 20-8. The last time the Tritons had a season with 20 wins was 2019.
Biola fell to 7-19.
It was the second win for the Tritons over the Eagles this season as they took an 18-8 decision in Late September.
HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego took control early, blasting out to a 6-0 lead. Five of those goals came in the first quarter as
Felipe Ferreira (senior),
Mason Presley,
Brendon Fezzey (senior),
Luca Rago (senior), and
Grant Kurtz all found the back of the net.
Bennett Axline (senior) scored at the 6:19 mark of the second quarter to make it 6-0 before Caleb Hernandez got Biola on the board just under 40 seconds later. Kurtz notched his second goal of the game and
Jaime Bhattacharyya followed to put the Tritons up 8-1 heading into the halftime break.
The Eagles tallied two-consecutive goals to open the third period, a period in which they out-scored the Tritons 4-2. A Gavin McKenzie goal with 1:20 left in the third brought Biola back within four at 9-5.
The Eagles again clawed their way back within four when a Nick Murray goal at 4:36 of the final quarter had the score at 11-7 in favor of the Tritons.
UC San Diego got back-to-back goals from Presley and
Nolan Roberts in the final 1:41 of the game to ice the victory.
Both squads struggled on extra-man situations. Biola scored on just two of nine (.222) man-up situations while UC San Diego converted three of 11 (.273).
Ten Tritons scored in the game with just two players netting multiple goals including Kurtz (three) and Presley (two). Presley add an assist to finish with three points.
UC San Diego's
Winston Loh was stellar in goal. In his first career start, the senior made nine saves to collect his first career victory.
McKenzie and Murray each had a pair of goals for the Eagles. Joshua Dachenhausen made eight saves in net.
WINSTON LOH INTERVIEW
TRITON TIDBITS
• UC San Diego held a 29-21 advantage in shots.
•
Grant Kurtz registered consecutive hat tricks as he also scored three goals Friday in a win against UC Irvine.
• Senior
Luca Rago logged a career high four steals.
• Both teams scored a goal on a five-meter penalty shot.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego closes out its regular season Sunday with a trip to Los Angeles to take on LMU. The game is scheduled for a noon start.
The seedings for the upcoming Big West Championship will be announced Sunday. The tournament runs Nov. 21-23 at UC Irvine.
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.
