Aggravating the Aggies

Thursday, October 9

Riverside

7:00 PM

California Baptist University

UC Davis

Photo by: Leigh Ann Lindsey

10/9/2014 8:57:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

California Baptist University pulled off an upset victory over No. 11 UC Davis, 10-9, to open the WWPA season Thursday night at home...

By: Andrew Shortall, Asst. Sports Information Director

Box Score

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – For just the second time in 15 years, UC Davis visited the Lancer Aquatic Center to take on California Baptist University, with both teams opening the Western Water Polo Association season, Thursday night. The Aggies may hope their return will be in another 15 years, as the 11^th ranked team in the NCAA fell to a Lancer squad that remained undefeated at home in an overtime thriller, 10-9, and in front of a standing-room only crowd.

CBU, which is receiving votes in the polls, improves to 12-7, 1-0 in the WWPA and a perfect 9-0 in its home pool. The Lancers are also 9-0 when holding their opposition to 10 goals or less. UC Davis falls to an even 8-8 and 0-1 in conference. It also broke an 11-game losing streak to the Aggies for the Lancers and avenged a 13-8 loss to UC Davis on the first day of their season.

While he did not finish with the most goals, CBU's Nick Candau provided what the eventual game-winner with 2:12 to play in the second half of overtime. It was a tremendous debut for the two-meter transfer, as he had missed the first 18 games of the year with an injury.

"This is absolutely huge," Candau said of the win, "it's our first conference game against the 11^th-ranked team in the country. We're not ranked right now, so hopefully this puts us on the map. I really hope this is a stepping stone to bigger and better things for us."

Joseph Moorman continued his stellar play, anchoring a defense that held UC Davis 0-for-11 on six-on-five opportunities. Eric Carnohan and Brent Teraoka each finished with a hat trick for CBU, while Cody Wetherbee and Candau both scored twice in the victory.

"I was just trying to incorporate myself into the offense," Candau said. "I haven't played with the guys much because of my injury."

CBU got off to a strong start against the Aggies, taking a 2-0 lead on goals from Teraoka and Wetherbee. UC Davis got on the board on a Sean Grab tally, but Candau scored on CBU's next possession to restore the home team's lead, 3-1. The Aggies scored the final goal of the quarter to go into the second down one.

Carnohan had the Lancers score first again in the second quarter off a sneaky lob shot, but UC Davis closed out the half with a pair of goals to go into halftime tied at 4-4. It started a see-saw battle, as the game featured six ties -- five in the second half -- from that point on.

For the first time in the game, the Aggies took a lead, 5-4, as Spencer Galli scored 1:03 into the third frame. Wetherbee scored on a long-range shot with less than two minutes to go in the third, though, to tie things at 5-5. UC Davis still took a lead into the fourth quarter after Max Vigeant found the inside of the cage with 1:16 remaining in the third.

After winning his third sprint of the game, Teraoka struck first again for CBU in the fourth to tie the game at 6-6 just 19 seconds in. UC Davis took back a 7-6 advantage with 4:47 to go.

Carnohan took it upon himself to keep the Lancers above water late, tying the game at 7-7 and 8-8 on goals scored with 2:35 and 1:05 to go in regulation. CBU had one last shot to end things on time, as Wetherbee leaked out after a Moorman save and fired a shot with 2.6 seconds remaining on the clock that just bounced outside of the cage.

Both defenses continued to flex their muscles in overtime before UC Davis' Austin Beckwith scored first in the extra period. Teraoka knotted the score again at 9-9 with a goal that came with 23 ticks to go in the frame. The Aggies had a chance to go up again when it drew a six-on-five late in the first session of overtime, but the advantage was thwarted by the CBU defense, which sparked a counterattack for Candau.

"I saw my guy cheating center so I gave (Spencer) Shore a head nod and he gave me a perfect pass," Candau said. "I've played with the opposing goalie since I was little, so I knew his tendencies. I faked nearside, faked cross cage and he dropped his hands so I just fired."

The clutch score gave CBU a 10-9 lead with 2:12 left in extra time. There was still plenty of time on the clock for the Aggies, who drew another man-advantage with two minutes to go, but came up empty after another block from Moorman. The Lancers goalie would not be beat the rest of the way, as CBU logged the one-goal win.

CBU continues WWPA play tomorrow with a game against the 14^th-ranked team in the nation, Santa Clara. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. at the Lancer Aquatic Center.

"We take it one game at a time still," Candau said. "We have to put this game behind us and feed off the energy. Hopefully we get another crowd out tomorrow like we did tonight, we just have to stick to our game plan and play CBU water polo."