Thomas Murphy
On Saturday, Oct. 18, No. 7 UC San Diego men’s water polo (17-7, 0-2 Big West) beat No. 15 Princeton (16-8, 4-1 NWPC) 10-9 in an electric, down-to-the-wire match at Canyonview Aquatic Center. The one-goal victory is the Tritons’ first win after two back-to-back losses, including a 14-12 defeat against No. 10 Long Beach State on Friday.
“It took the full four quarters; it took everybody on the team,” senior utility player Bennett Axline said in a postgame interview with The UCSD Guardian. “It was a rough game yesterday, but it was good to bounce back like this today.”
The Tritons scored on their opening possession after a seamless pass by graduate student attacker Felipe Ferreira to Axline set up a simple finish. Axline kept the momentum going less than a minute later, managing to score after an assist by freshman attacker Jackson Boettner.
The Tigers quickly recovered after an exclusion foul was called on Triton senior utility player Brendon Fezzey, giving Princeton the opportunity to score. However, UCSD responded on the next possession; junior attacker Mason Presley passed the ball to sophomore attacker Christian Hammonds, who drove the ball into the net, keeping the Tritons in the lead, 3-1.
The second quarter began with the Tigers once again on offense, only for a shot by freshman utility player Otto Stothart to fly past the goalpost. The Tigers failed to convert three more times before Stothart managed to score a close-range goal, narrowing UCSD’s lead to 3-2. Yet, the Tritons quickly responded with two goals, increasing their lead to three.
However, the Tigers kept fighting, converting a penalty after redshirt freshman goalkeeper Alex Hegeman held Stothart under the surface. In response, Boettner managed to skip the ball into the goal from deep on the left wing, increasing the Tritons’ advantage to 6-3. Princeton responded 15 seconds later with a goal of its own, cutting UCSD’s lead to two. The final possessions of the half fell flat, resulting in a first-half score of 6-4.
Heading into the third quarter, the Tigers once again won the sprint but were unable to score until an Axline foul led to a Princeton penalty shot. The Tigers scored the penalty, draining the lead to a singular goal. After passing the ball around, the Tritons finally committed to shooting when senior utility player Eamon Hennessey fired an effortless lob over the goalie for UCSD’s seventh goal of the game. The chaotic quarter ended with two goals in the last 15 seconds of the game — the first by the Tigers and the latter by Hennessey, who scored in the last second of the quarter. The third quarter ended with the Tritons ahead 8-6.
Both teams failed to score in the fourth quarter until Ferreira scored his first goal of the game, keeping the Tritons ahead 9-6. The Tritons’ three-goal safety net did not last long, as the Tigers played their best quarter of the match. They managed to score on the Tritons twice, narrowing UCSD’s advantage to one. With less than 60 seconds on the clock, Axline sent the ball into the goal, just barely making it past the Princeton defense. The Tigers scored in a last-ditch comeback effort with 27 seconds remaining — but it was too little, too late. The final buzzer sounded with the Tritons ahead 10-9.
“We have a deep team, a deep roster full of young and old guys that are all contributing,” Axline said. “It’s good when younger kids are scoring, older people are scoring; when the ball’s being shared, everybody has a goal. The energy is good, and that keeps people in the game.”
The Tritons will look to nab their first Big West win of the season against No. 6 UC Davis at Canyonview Aquatic Center on Saturday, Oct. 25.