LA JOLLA, Calif. — The UC San Diego men's water polo team was defeated by UC Santa Barbara, 14-8, Friday in a Big West match-up at Canyonview Aquatic Center.
With the loss, the eighth-ranked Tritons fell to 12-6 overall and 1-1 in the conference. The 14th-ranked Gauchos improved to 19-9 on the season and 1-1 in Big West action.
Triton junior
Christian Hammonds scored his seventh hat trick of the season, finding the back of the net three times. He also had an assist and three steals. Sophomore
Jackson Boettner and freshman
Bryan Shapirshteyn contributed two goals apiece.
For UC Santa Barbara, Luigi Canepa racked up 10 points with six goals and four assists.
Canepa scored the game's first goal in the opening minute of play. Back-to-back scores by Boettner and Shapirshteyn in the first quarter gave the Tritons their only lead of the night.
UCSB scored the game's next five goals to take a 6-2 advantage with just under two minutes left in the second stanza. Shapirshteyn scored his second goal of the game and Canepa dropped his fourth goal of the night on a five-meter penalty shot to make it 7-3 Gauchos going into the halftime break.
UC San Diego came out swinging in the third quarter. Hammonds recorded his hat trick by scoring three consecutive times over a span of just 1:09. His third goal at the 5:09 mark of the third quarter brought UC San Diego back within a single goal at 7-6. The teams traded goals and Canepa closed out the third with another score, making it 9-7 Gauchos going into the fourth quarter.
UC Santa Barbara tallied back-to-back power play goals in the fourth and led 11-7 with 4:43 remaining.
Grant Kurtz' goal at 4:05 would be the final score for UC San Diego. The Gauchos scored three more times in the final 2:53 to ice the victory.
The Tritons had a 31-24 lead in shots for the game. They were unable to capitalize on power plays, converting just twice in 11 opportunities.
In net,
Alex Hegeman made five saves for UC San Diego and Wyatt Pieretti had 10 stops for UC Santa Barbara.
HEAD COACH MATT USTASZEWSKI INTERVIEW
TRITON TIDBITS
•
Christian Hammonds has scored at least once in all 18 games
• Hammonds leads the team in goals, assists, points, shots, and steals
•
Landon Akerstrom was named the Big West Player of the Week on Oct. 14
• UC San Diego is out-scoring opponents 470-451
• 10 different Tritons hold a double-digit goal total
• At halftime of tonight's game, the 2006 Triton team was honored for the 20th anniversary of its WWPA Conference Championship and NCAA National Championship appearance
UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays again Saturday as they host a non-conference game against Concordia University Irvine at noon. Tickets are available through the
Triton Box Office.
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.
