In a surprising turn of events, the No. 7 UCSD men’s water polo team’s four-game winning streak came to an end in the Western Water Polo Association Championships with a 7-6 loss to WWPA tournament host Loyola Marymount University on Nov. 19. After playing three-straight games against Whittier College and No. 19 University of Redlands during the two previous days, the Tritons took their first playoff loss of the season against Loyola Marymount to end their 2005 season with a 24-8 overall record, the best in school history.
The Tritons began the game with back-to-back goals from senior Brandon Borso with six minutes, 34 seconds remaining and senior Chris Finegold three minutes later, giving the Tritons a 2-0 lead. The Lions were able to net their own goal minutes later, but Finegold answered with three seconds remaining in the first quarter to put the Tritons up 3-1.
The Lions came back in the second quarter, scoring two goals with six minutes remaining in the quarter, tying the game at three goals apiece and holding the Tritons scoreless.
At the beginning of the second half, the Lions came out strong, netting their fourth goal to give Loyola Marymount its first lead of the game. Triton junior Jesse Casellini scored a goal of his own with 22 seconds remaining in the quarter, bringing the Tritons back into the tie at 4-4.
The fourth quarter became an intense matchup, both teams knowing that the outcome of the quarter would decide the fate of their seasons. Borso came up with the first goal of the quarter, putting the Tritons up 5-4 with 6:24 remaining. Thirty seconds later, senior Jonathan Hopkins netted his own goal, giving the Tritons a two-point lead.
But the Lions came back and cut the lead to one with a goal less than three minutes later, then tied the score soon thereafter with a goal from Ben Easton, making the score 6-6. The Lions then took a 7-6 lead with 1:28 remaining and held the Tritons scoreless for the remainder of the game to win the WWPA title.
This was the first Triton loss to Loyola Marymount this season. The day before, the Tritons blew out No. 19 Redlands 9-3 with Hopkins scoring one-third of the Tritons’ goals and senior Chris Eichholz contributing two of his own. The victory gave UCSD its highest number of wins in school history, the old record coming from the Tritons’ 1993 team, which went 23-9.
Hopkins was named WWPA Player of the Year while Finegold and Borso were named to the All-WWPA First Team. Eichholz and senior Colin McElroy received honorable mentions.
