#3 Stanford Wins So Cal Invite, #1 UC Santa Barbara Falls Twice on WP Week 4

With 16 ranked teams competing in 32 matches at the So Cal Invitational, the weekend was bound to produce a few upsets. It did just that with 11 matches seeing a lower ranked team prevail in the final 24 matches after results went according to seeding in Friday’s contests.

#1 UC Santa Barbara extended its program-best opening win streak to 15 matches with wins over #20 San Jose State (11-5) and #6 Pepperdine (14-10), before suffering two losses to drop to fourth place among the tournament field. #2 UCLA handed the Gauchos their first loss (9-8) on Saturday afternoon, and #4 Pacific edged out UCSB 11-10 in the third place match.

RV Pomona-Pitzer provided some standout results, besting #20 San Jose State 8-7 on Saturday afternoon to snap a three-game losing streak. The Sagehens wrapped up the weekend with an 8-5 win over #14 Princeton to claim 13th place.

#11 UC San Diego also scored two upsets in Los Angeles, defeating #10 UC Irvine 15-10 and #9 UC Davis 13-12 in sudden death. The Tritons are now 10-5 overall after going 3-1 at the So Cal Invitational following Wednesday’s loss to #14 Loyola Marymount.

Outside of action at the So Cal Invitational, #19 George Washington pushed past #16 Fordham 9-8, thanks to a five-goal output by Andras Levai, to open Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference action.

There were two overtime contests, with #11 UC San Diego topping #9 UC Davis in sudden death and Salem edging Mercyhurst 21-20.

Upsets

• #14 Loyola Marymount def. #11 UC San Diego 17-16 – The Lions registered the first upset of the weekend, downing the Tritons on the road on Wednesday. UCSD led 7-6 at the half, but LMU surged ahead by outscoring the Tritons 6-4 in the third quarter and held on for the win. Blazo Mitrovic paced LMU with seven goals, while Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt put in six for UC San Diego.
• #19 George Washington def. #16 Fordham 9-8 – Andras Levai nearly single-handedly led the Colonels to the upset win, rallying the team from down 8-4 with 37 seconds left in the third quarter. Andrew Mavis started the final 5-0 push with 13 seconds left in the third stanza. Levai took over from there, eventually tying the score at 8 with 4:30 to play and netting the game winner just 22 seconds later to steal away the win. Levai totaled five goals in the game, while Jake Miller-Tolt scored four times to lead Fordham.
• RV Pomona-Pitzer vs. #20 San Jose State 8-7 – The Sagehens jumped out to a 4-2 lead and led 6-3 at the half before holding off a second half surge by the Spartans. Dylan Elliott scored four times to pace Pomona-Pitzer, while Finn Pardon notched a hat trick for SJSU. Pomona-Pitzer put in the first three goals of the game in just over three minutes. Elliott scored his second goal to make it 4-1 at the 2:49 mark. Down 7-4  with 3:43 to play in the third quarter, SJSU began its comeback, scoring three in a row to tie it up at 7 with 4:17 left. Elliott, however, sealed the upset with a final goals with just two seconds remaining.
• #7 Cal def. #6 Pepperdine 9-8 – The Bears built a 7-5 halftime advantage and led 9-6 heading into the final stanza to withstand a final 2-0 push by the Waves. Jordan Hoover put Cal up 5-3 with 6:47 left in the second quarter, only to see Pepperdine tie it up with goals by Mate Toth and Marko Asic. Jack Deely and Jasmin Kolasinac, however, answered in the final 1:15 of the half to give the Bears a 7-5 lead. A Safak Simsek penalty with 2:06 to play in the third quarter pushed Cal to a 9-5 advantage. Balazs Kosa scored twice and Sean Thomas added a third to pull Pepperdine within one at 9-8 with 1:58 left, but the Waves could not complete the comeback. Hoover and Deely each scored twice for Cal, while Kosa added two goals for Pepperdine.
• #11 UC San Diego def. #10 UC Irvine 15-10 – A five-goal third quarter pulled UC Irvine within two at 10-8, but the Tritons outscored the Anteaters 5-2 in the final stanza to secure the upset. UCSD started the game with a 4-1 run and maintained a three-goal edge (6-3) at halftime. UCI scored five times in the third quarter, but UC San Diego answered all but one of those, keeping a 10-8 lead. Two goals by Calder Hilde-Jones and one each by Cooper Milton and Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt made it 14-8 with 4:44 left, an unsurmountable advantage. Skyler Munatones and Hilde-Jones put in four goals each for UCSD, while Turnbow-Lindenstadt added a hat trick. Jason Evezard scored the game’s final goal for UC Irvine at the 3:31 mark. Evezard, Ivan Mercep and Bryant Joudrie each scored twice for UCI.
• #2 UCLA def. #1 UC Santa Barbara 9-8 – UCLA scored first and went on to a 4-2 advantage, before Sam Nangle put in two goals to tie it up at 5. The Bruins grabbed the 6-5 halftime lead on an Ashworth Molthen goal with two seconds left. After ties at 6 and 7, UCLA went up 8-7 on a Matthew Kacura score with 2:40 to play in the third. Leo Yuno tied it up again at the 4:39 mark in the final stanza. Each team had two more shot attempts before Molthen sunk the game winner with 45 ticks left on the clock to finish off a hat trick.
• RV Pomona-Pitzer def. #14 Princeton 8-5 – The Sagehens stayed one step ahead of the Tigers throughout the game. Pomona-Pitzer scored first and Princeton countered each time, tying the score at 1, 2 and 3. A Joseph Schafer score with 23 seconds to go put the Sagehens up 4-3 at the half. Scored by Dylan Elliott and Keegan Coleman put Pomona-Pitzer ahead 6-4 with 57 seconds to play in the third quarter. Alexander Peterson made it a three-point margin just 19 seconds into the final stanza, putting the game out of reach. Schafer tacked on another goal for good measure with 1:44 to play. Elliott and Schafer each put in two goals for Pomona-Pitzer, while Keller Maloney and Yurian Quinones scored twice for Princeton.
• #13 Loyola Marymount def. #10 UC Irvine 14-10 – LMU scored the first three goals of the game – two by David Carrasco and one by Blazo Mitrovic –  and led 7-3 at the half, giving the Lions the edge they needed as both teams put in seven second half scores. Carrasco netted five goals for Loyola Marymount, while four other players notched two-goal efforts. Daniel Norman, Jason Evezard and John Polos put in two scores to pace UC Irvine.
• #11 UC San Diego def. #9 UC Davis 11-9 SD – The battle for ninth place came down to a second sudden death period after each team scored once in the second overtime period and came up empty in the first sudden death stanza. It all began, however, with UC Davis going up 4-3 in the first quarter and UC San Diego rallying to go up 6-4 at the half. The Aggies countered with a five goal third period and the Tritons sent it to overtime with a 4-2 edge in the last stanza of regulation. From there, Nir Gross scored for UC Davis with 1:24 left in the second overtime, while Calder Hilde-Jones countered 25 seconds later for the UCSD. Cooper Milton put in the eventual game winner with two seconds left in the eighth period, notching his fourth goal of the day. Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt added a hat trick for UCSD, while Kyle Reilly and Gross each notched three scores for UC Davis.
• #4 Pacific def. #1 UC Santa Barbara 12-10 –  Pacific grabbed the lead early and held on for the upset and third place. The Tigers went up 2-0 and pushed on to a 4-1 lead, owning a 6-5 halftime edge. Jeremie Cote scored twice in the third quarter to push Pacific ahead 9-7. Goals by Ivan Gvozdanovic, Leo Yuno and Cole Brosnan helped UCSB chip away and tie the score at 10 with 1:22 remaining in the game. Engin Ege Colak prevented the Gauchos from completing the comeback with an even strength score with 1:04 left. Cote scored four times for Pacific, while Colak and Matthew Hosmer each added hat tricks. Brosnan put in three goals to lead UCSB.
• #3 Stanford def. #2 UCLA 13-9 – The Cardinal never trailed in the championship game, taking a 3-1 lead to start the game and boasting a 7-3 lead at the half. UCLA was back within two at 10-8 heading into the fourth quarter after putting in five goals in the third, but could get no closer. Neither team scored over the final 4:54. Tyler Abramson paced Stanford with four goals, while Bennett Williams added a hat trick. Ashworth Molthen put in three goals for UCLA as the Bruins suffered their first loss of the season.

Overtime

• Salem def. Mercyhurst 21-20 – A back and forth affair, which saw each team manage a six-goal quarter (Salem in the 1st, Mercyhurst in the third), came down to a second overtime period after Salem rallied from down 14-11 en route to a 16-all regulation tie. Each tacked on three goals in the first extra stanza. Salem got goals from Michael Rojas (1:49) and Manuel Soto Estela (1:04) to go up 21-19 in the second overtime. Mercyhurst eventually answered with a Nebyat Mamo goal with 13 seconds left but it was not enough. Milos Popovic netted six goals, while Robert Juhas added four and Adam Hudson and Soto Estela added hat tricks to pace Salem. Meanwhile, Ryan Witslawski put in five scores aided by hat tricks from Alex Cappuccio, Daniel Alvarez and Jonathan Merkley for Mercyhurst.
• #11 UC San Diego def. #9 UC Davis 11-9 in 2 Sudden Death Periods

Men’s Water Polo Week 4 Results