Appearing a bit tired and even lacking some focus, the UCSD men’s water polo team stumbled against UC Davis before beating two Western Water Polo Association teams at UC Davis’ annual Aggie Shootout.
After a long bus ride to Davis, Calif., the No. 5 Tritons faced the No. 13 Aggies at the Schaal Aquatics Center on Oct. 27.
It was clear that UCSD was not on top of its game as a surging UC Davis team scored twice and held the Tritons scoreless in the first quarter. UCSD continued to struggle offensively in the second half, but the defense kept the game within reach.
“We were kind of flat,” senior goalkeeper Jeremy Randall said. “We were not making sharp plays, and [we] looked tired.”
Senior utility Jesse Casellini finally got UCSD on the board with a goal at the 3 minute, 28 second mark, but it didn’t take long for UC Davis to recapture its two-point lead and call on the help of some of its key players.
The Aggies extended their lead with a goal in the third quarter, but the Tritons finally awoke. Junior utility A.J. Kotanjian, Casellini and senior two-meter offense Ty Lackey each scored a goal to tie the game at 4-4.
At the 4:30 mark in the fourth quarter, Lackey scored again to give UCSD its first lead of the game. However, after UC Davis fought back and tied the game, Aggie senior defense David Welch got the game-winning goal with 1:02 left in the match to lift the Aggies 6-5 over the Tritons. With the win, the Aggies improved their record to 11-10.
According to Randall, the Tritons had no excuses for the mediocre outing against Davis, except that it was simply a bad and poorly played game.
“We had an off game,” Randall said. “We couldn’t produce any offense whatsoever.”
The Tritons made up for their blow to their confidence by coming out strong the following morning to reestablish themselves as the top team in the WWPA.
They came out the next morning to face the No. 17 Air Force Academy, hoping to make amends for their disappointing loss to UC Davis the night before.
It didn’t take UCSD long to score, as the team netted four goals before the Falcons could answer midway into the second quarter.
After two more goals for the Tritons, the Air Force Academy tried to close the lead, but could only manage one more goal to make it 6-3 in favor of UCSD.
The Tritons refused to ease up as they outscored the Falcons 6-1 in the fourth to cruise to a convincing 12-4 win.
UCSD then faced No. 16 Santa Clara University in the next match. The offense delivered once again, as the Tritons defeated the Broncos, 12-7.
After losing their only WWPA match of the season to UC Davis, the Tritons bounced back emphatically to improve their conference record to 12-1 and 21-5 overall.
According to Randall, the shocking loss to Davis awoke the Tritons and reminded the team that wins are not freely given but must be earned with effort.
“I think we’re back on track,” he said.
Having played so well through 26 games, UCSD is excited about the possibilities in the postseason, but is mindful of the remaining match on its regular season calendar.
“[UC Irvine] is in the back of our minds, but the biggest focus is the conference championship,” Randall said.
The Tritons return home on Nov. 8 for Senior Night to face No. 11 UC Irvine in their final regular season game.
After the senior sendoff, the Tritons will have over a week of rest before the WWPA tournament, but they certainly won’t be idle in their time off.
The team hopes to stay on top of the conference and make some noise in the WWPA championships after falling last year to Loyola Marymount University in the final two minutes of the title match.
