IRVINE, Calif. — Electricity was literally in the air Friday night as the No. 11 UC San Diego men's water polo team defeated No. 6 UC Irvine, 16-15, in a Big West match-up on the road in Orange County.
With the victory, UC San Diego improved to 14-6 overall and 2-1 in Big West play. The Anteaters dropped to 16-6 on the season and also hold a 2-1 mark in conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ Â
With the score even at 12-12 early in the fourth quarter, the Tritons scored three consecutive goals.
Dusan Djordjevic broke the tie at 7:09 and was followed by
Mason Presley at 5:28 and
Grant Kurtz at 5:19. The run gave UC San Diego a 15-12 advantage.Â
The Anteaters scored the next two goals, one by Cole Francisco, the other by Wyley Dale, that moved UC Irvine within a single goal at 15-14 with 2:33 on the clock.
Lachlan Rossi tallied his second goal of the game on a power play at the 2:09 mark, making it 16-14 UC San Diego.
At that point, Mother Nature entered the game and called a timeout. A lightning delay stopped play for almost an hour.Â
Returning to action, UC Irvine scored the game's final goal with 26 seconds remaining, leaving Rossi's goal as the game-winner, his first of the season.
Jackson Boettner logged three goals for UC San Diego, his team-leading eighth hat trick of the season. Five Tritons scored a pair of goals including
Landon Akerstrom, Djordjovic,
Christian Hammonds, Kurtz, and Rossi. Boettner and Hammonds both finished with five points.
Reef Lippa dished out three assists.
Alex Hegeman made five saves and had a steal in goal for the Tritons.
Alex Lopez was the impact player for the Anteaters, finishing with seven points on five goals and two assists. Johann Thrall netted three goals. Nico Assalian and Vincent Vega combined for eight saves in net.
Shots were even with both squads firing 31.UC Irvine was 5-for-9 on power plays and 2-for-2 on five-meter penalty shots.
UP NEXT
UC San Diego hosts two non-conference games over the next two days. Saturday, the Tritons look to avenge an early season loss to LMU. Game time is 2 p.m.
Sunday, No. 2 Stanford visits Canyonview Aquatic Center for a 1 p.m. game.
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.
