Thursday, October 3
Riverside, Calif.
6:00 PM
California Baptist University
11
vs
12
UC San Diego
Lancers Battle Top-10 Tritons to One Goal Again
10/3/2019 8:16:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
RIVERSIDE – For the second year in a row, California Baptist University played the top-10 UC San Diego Tritons within a goal in Western Water Polo Association action.
This time, it was the Tritons who prevailed on a score of 12-11 in CBU's conference home opener on Thursday night at the Lancer Aquatics Center. Last time both teams met, CBU pulled off a stunning 10-9 upset victory over then No. 8 UC San Diego in La Jolla on October 5, 2018.
"We aren't scared of anybody, we definitely look forward to these games," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "We want to find out what we're made of, and we went out and gave them our best effort. This is life in the WWPA, the top teams all beat up on each other."
The Tritons are a storied water polo program. They've advanced to the NCAA Championship 16 times, won 19 WWPA titles, including last season, and finished runner-up 14 other times in the conference. UCSD ended 2018 with a 20-6 record and ranked fifth in the country after they advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals. UCSD improves to 11-5 and 3-0 in the WWPA this season, while the Lancers move to 4-8, 0-2 in the conference.
"We obviously know UC San Diego is going to come in here and be a solid team. They've been playing great water polo all year long, so we expected them to play well and they did," Rosa said. "We expected to play well, and it was high energy throughout."
Hunter Barnett led CBU's scoring attack with three goals on the night, while PJ McDonough, Joseph Galgani and Zach Lowery all scored twice, and Christian Britton had three assists and a steal. Gabe Thorne had 10 saves and a steal in the cage.
CBU trailed 9-6 with nine minutes to play on Thursday, but ended the game on a 5-3 run to make things very interesting down the stretch. Lowery (two steals, one assist) scored two goals in a row for the Lancers to make it a two-goal game with 6:20 left in regulation.
It was the first of four times CBU would make it a one-goal game in the fourth quarter, but the Tritons always had an answer. Galgani (5:33), Barnett (4:40) and McDonough (:34) all scored down the stretch to keep things close.
After McDonough's goal with 34 seconds to play, UCSD ran the game clock all the way down to four seconds. It gave the Lancers one last shot at tying the game and forcing overtime, but the last-second shot was off the mark and UCSD escaped with the win.
"There were two or three lack of focus plays at the end of the second half, where we scored but didn't do the job on the defensive end of the pool," Rosa said. "We just couldn't catch them in the fourth, every time we got within one they come back and went up by two."
There's no slowing down for the Lancers, who head to the Gary Troyer Tournament, which is hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, for four games over the next two days. CBU will first face Fordham, which is receiving votes in the NCAA rankings, and then No. 20 Whittier on Friday at 1:40 p.m. and 5:40 p.m., respectively. The weekend concludes with games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and 18th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.
The Fordham and CMS games will be played at the Stags' Axelrood Pool, while the contests versus Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer will be hosted at the Sagehens' Haldeman Pool. All four games will have live stats on The FOSH, while CMS and Pomona-Pitzer will have their own video streams, as well.
This time, it was the Tritons who prevailed on a score of 12-11 in CBU's conference home opener on Thursday night at the Lancer Aquatics Center. Last time both teams met, CBU pulled off a stunning 10-9 upset victory over then No. 8 UC San Diego in La Jolla on October 5, 2018.
"We aren't scared of anybody, we definitely look forward to these games," Coach Kevin Rosa said. "We want to find out what we're made of, and we went out and gave them our best effort. This is life in the WWPA, the top teams all beat up on each other."
https://t.co/9T62YysGNX.#LanceUp⚔ pic.twitter.com/Nu9e4Fq7VC
— CBU Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 4, 2019
The Tritons are a storied water polo program. They've advanced to the NCAA Championship 16 times, won 19 WWPA titles, including last season, and finished runner-up 14 other times in the conference. UCSD ended 2018 with a 20-6 record and ranked fifth in the country after they advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals. UCSD improves to 11-5 and 3-0 in the WWPA this season, while the Lancers move to 4-8, 0-2 in the conference.
"We obviously know UC San Diego is going to come in here and be a solid team. They've been playing great water polo all year long, so we expected them to play well and they did," Rosa said. "We expected to play well, and it was high energy throughout."
Hunter Barnett led CBU's scoring attack with three goals on the night, while PJ McDonough, Joseph Galgani and Zach Lowery all scored twice, and Christian Britton had three assists and a steal. Gabe Thorne had 10 saves and a steal in the cage.
🔉 THE CROWD GOES WILD 🔉
— CBU Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 4, 2019
Logan Mena's steal and assist sets up a breakaway goal from Hunter Barnett to make this a ☝️ goal game in the fourth❗️#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/YmjD96XaLE
CBU trailed 9-6 with nine minutes to play on Thursday, but ended the game on a 5-3 run to make things very interesting down the stretch. Lowery (two steals, one assist) scored two goals in a row for the Lancers to make it a two-goal game with 6:20 left in regulation.
💵💵💵
— CBU Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 4, 2019
Zach Lowery cashes in the penalty-shot goal to keep this a two-goal game. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Vidv7FKBzO
It was the first of four times CBU would make it a one-goal game in the fourth quarter, but the Tritons always had an answer. Galgani (5:33), Barnett (4:40) and McDonough (:34) all scored down the stretch to keep things close.
🥅
— CBU Men's Water Polo (@LancerWaterPolo) October 4, 2019
PJ McDonough scores with 34 seconds left to keep hope alive for CBU!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/zQNzt29N19
After McDonough's goal with 34 seconds to play, UCSD ran the game clock all the way down to four seconds. It gave the Lancers one last shot at tying the game and forcing overtime, but the last-second shot was off the mark and UCSD escaped with the win.
"There were two or three lack of focus plays at the end of the second half, where we scored but didn't do the job on the defensive end of the pool," Rosa said. "We just couldn't catch them in the fourth, every time we got within one they come back and went up by two."
There's no slowing down for the Lancers, who head to the Gary Troyer Tournament, which is hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer, for four games over the next two days. CBU will first face Fordham, which is receiving votes in the NCAA rankings, and then No. 20 Whittier on Friday at 1:40 p.m. and 5:40 p.m., respectively. The weekend concludes with games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and 18th-ranked Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 1 p.m. and 6:20 p.m.
The Fordham and CMS games will be played at the Stags' Axelrood Pool, while the contests versus Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer will be hosted at the Sagehens' Haldeman Pool. All four games will have live stats on The FOSH, while CMS and Pomona-Pitzer will have their own video streams, as well.
Players Mentioned
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
2MD
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
G
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