LA JOLLA, Calif. - The 11th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team (9-10) returns to action this week with three road games in two days. On Friday, the Tritons travel to face No. 7 UC Irvine (12-5) at 7:00 p.m. at Anteater Pool. UCSD will play two on Saturday, taking on a pair of Western Water Polo Association teams. UCSD faces Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9-9) at 1:30 p.m. and Pomona Pitzer (10-11) at 4:30 p.m. Both games will take place in Claremont.
The Tritons and Anteaters last met on October 11, an 8-7 win by UCI at the UCI Invitational. The Tritons trailed by one goal in the first quarter and one goal at halftime. UCI extended the lead to 8-5 before a late rally pulled UCSD within one score with :47 left. Niether team would score the remainder of th the game for the 8-7 final.
UCI has won three straight against UCSD. The last Triton win over the Anteaters came on Nov. 8, 2006, a 10-6 win at Canyonview Pool.
UCI has won six straight, including wins over Navy, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Earlier this season, UCI defeated UCSD's next opponents (CMS and Pomona Pitzer) by a combined score of 38-5.
Cole Bielskis leads UCI with 35 goals while Tom Krulp adds 34 goals. Matt Johnson is the primary goalkeeper with 117 saves and 104 goals allowed.
CMS went 2-1 last week with an 11-3 loss at Loyola Marymount and wins against Occidental and Riverside City College. The last meeting between CMS and UCSD was at the WWPA Championships in 2008. The Tritons won that first-round match-up by a 24-8 score.
Pomona Pitzer recently had an eight game winning streak which included a win over Santa Clara. The last time the Tritons and Sagehens met resulted in a 13-6 UCSD win at Canyonview Pool.
UCSD is led by Steven Donohoe with 44 goals while Bryce Madsen is second on the team with 26 goals. Brian Donohoe leads UCSD with 23 assists and Sean Cruz has 19 assists. David Morton has a team-high 193 saves.
After this week, the Tritons will go on another road trip next week, travelling to Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount. UCSD's final home game is on November 7 when it hosts Santa Clara.
