RIVERSIDE, Calif. - No. 7 UC San Diego men's water polo was defeated, 15-13, by Big West opponent and 14th-ranked Cal Baptist Friday evening at Lancer Aquatics Center.
Both squads entered the game with a chance to secure at least a share of the Big West regular season title with a victory.
The Lancers will wait until Sunday's result of the UC Santa Barbara at Cal State Fullerton game to learn if they won the title outright or will share it with the Gauchos if UCSB wins.
UC San Diego, Cal Baptist, and UC Santa Barbara all entered today with identical 2-1 Big West records.
UC San Diego dropped to 16-8 overall and Cal Baptist upped its season mark to 24-8.
Christian Hammonds led the Tritons with nine points on three goals and six assists while also adding a steal.
Jackson Boettner scored three times and
Reef Lippa scored a goal and recorded two assists. Goalie
Alex Hegeman recorded four saves and two steals. UC San Diego owned a 31-23 advantage in shots.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Cal Baptist won the first three quarters and held a 14-9 lead going into the final period.
The Tritons rallied in the fourth.
Jaime Bhattacharyya,
Mason Presley, Boettner, and Hammonds all found the back of the net. Presley, Boettner, and Hammonds went back-to-back-to-back and had UC San Diego down by just two goals at 15-13 with 1:40 left in regulation. However, that flurry would account for the final score.
The first quarter saw a game-high 10 goals put on the scoreboard. The Lancers had the lead for most ot the period. A boettner goal at 4:35 tied it at 1-1 and a Hammonds strike at 1:12 evened the game at 4-4. However, Cal Baptist scored the game's next three goals and led 7-4 early in the second quarter.
A five-meter penalty shot buried by Hammonds had the Tritons within a goal at 8-7 with 3:37 left in the second.
Cal Baptist went on to score the game's next four goals and took a 12-7 lead with 5:41 on the clock in the third quarter.
TRITON TID BITS
• The Tritons were 5-for-12 on the power play while Cal Baptist came in at 4-for-14.
•
Christian Hammonds extended his scoring streak to 24 games.
UP NEXT
The Tritons travel to UCLA Saturday to face the third-ranked Bruins(17-3) at Spieker Aquatics Center. The 1 p.m. game can be followed with a
live online broadcast as well as
live stats.
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.
