This is a totally new team.
The fifth-ranked Tritons cruised past the Anteaters with a 10-6 victory on Nov. 8 to secure their spot in the Western Water Polo Association championships with a 22-5 regular season record. Junior utility A.J. Kotanjian earned three of the first four goals in the match.
Last year’s UCSD men’s water polo team was a well-oiled machine ready to take on the Western Water Polo Association. With 11 seniors on the team, leadership was abundant and losses were few, as the team finished the season with a 22-7 regular season record.
This year, not much was expected out of the Tritons, who received only one first-place vote in the preseason WWPA poll. But for some reason, this team just clicks.
“”It’s crazy how well this team gels together and how our player makeup is perfect,”” senior utility Jesse Casellini said. “”We have the perfect players for every role and this team wants it so bad.””
The home crowd bade farewell to its five seniors as No. 5 UCSD ended its regular season with a 10-6 win over No. 11 UC Irvine on Nov. 8. With the victory, the Tritons finish with an impressive 22-5 regular season record, including a memorable win against UCLA and only one loss against a WWPA opponent. While these are all great accomplishments, their goal has been clear since they lost in the conference championship last season.
“”From the very second we lost last year, our goal, specifically, was to win the conference,”” senior two-meter offense Ty Lackey said. “”There’s no egos about who scores goals or who does what. We just get the job done.””
On senior night, the UCSD defense looked great as it shut out UC Irvine in the first quarter. Junior utility A.J. Kotanjian scored twice, while Casellini added another goal with just over a minute to play in the opening period to extend the lead, 3-0.
Triton head coach Denny Harper replaced his lineup and the Anteaters scored two unanswered goals, forcing Harper to put the starters back in. After a few close misses by both teams, Kotanjian netted another goal with a man advantage to end the quarter, 4-2.
UCSD didn’t let up in the third and scored three more goals, only to have UC Irvine score the next two to make it 7-4.
In the fourth quarter, the Anteaters came out with a one-on-one opportunity against Randall, but were denied by a great left-handed save. The Tritons then set up almost an alley-oop kind of play where junior driver Nestor Dordoni rose up high to score the goal. UC Irvine finished the night with two more goals, as did UCSD, including a penalty shot by senior utility Kyle Sutterly, who joined the team after impressing the coaches with his play on the club team.
“”He’s the only player to leave our club team here at UCSD and make the varsity,”” Harper said. “”I’m really proud of him.””
Even up until the last second, Harper did not let up on the Triton players, getting them ready for what’s to come in the WWPA tournament.
“”Our defense was really strong; the second group messed up a little bit, but overall it was a good defensive performance for us tonight,”” Harper said.
With high hopes of making some noise in the NCAA tournament, UCSD will have to take care of business against its WWPA rivals. The team seems as focused as ever, ready to take on the challenge and get the job done.
“”This year, we’ve really surprised a lot of people, but at this point, losing any more ball games is not coming up on my radar,”” Harper said.
