LA JOLLA, Calif. - The Tritons gave a valiant effort, but gave up four goals in extras as the 16th-ranked UC San Diego men's water polo team fell to visiting No. 6 UC Santa Barbara in overtime in a non-conference match, 16-14, Saturday at Canyonview Aquatics Center.
With the loss, the Tritons drop to 11-13 overall. The Gauchos improve to 15-9.
UCSB got out of the gates fast and opened up to a 3-1 lead to start the game. UCSD closed the gap to one, as senior utility Chase Cockerill's five-meter penalty shot was true. After the Gauchos got another score, junior driver Nick Alexander found Cockerill for his second goal as the Tritons trailed by one after the opening quarter.
After UCSB scored to take back a two-goal advantage, senior two-meter Tyler Mancuso was able to find the back of the cage for the Tritons. The Gauchos scored twice more to make the score 7-4. UCSD closed the second period with two goals, one from freshman driver Cole Martinez and one from Mancuso, with 16 seconds left in the quarter, to go into halftime trailing by one.
The Tritons scored two quick goals on consecutive possessions from Alexander and junior utility Nassim Hmeidan to take their first lead of the game, 8-7, to start the third frame. UCSB answered back by scoring three consecutive to take back and nab a two-goal lead. Cockerill would fire away two more before the end of the period to tie the game.
The Gauchos were able to answer every UCSD goal in the fourth quarter as the game went into overtime with the two teams deadlocked at 12-12. The Triton scores came from Hmeidan and Cockerill.
UCSB grabbed a two-score advantage to begin the first overtime period. Hmeidan scored his third goal of the game with only 15 seconds remaining to bring UCSD back within one.
The Tritons gave up two more scores in the second extra period to increase the margin to three. UCSD fought hard to the end as senior two-meter Tiki Toplak scored a goal with 29 seconds remaining, but the lead was insurmountable as the Tritons fell by two.
UCSD was led by Cockerill's five goals. Hmeidan added three and Mancuso had two. Freshman Sam Thompson got his first start of the season at goalie and amassed eight saves.
Derek Shoemaker was UCSB's top scorers with four goals, followed by Liam Gallaghan and Reed Cotterill with three each. Goalie Chris Whitelegge compiled 10 saves.
The Tritons have a week off before two exhibitions against Sunset San Diego and Olympic Club on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 10 and 12 p.m., respectively. A week after that, UCSD will head to Colorado for the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship, hosted by Air Force, Friday to Sunday on Nov. 20-22.
Box Score
UCSD 3 3 4 2 1 1 - 14
UCSB 4 3 3 2 2 2 - 16
Goals
UCSD: Chase Cockerill 5, Nassim Hmeidan 3, Tyler Mancuso 2, Nick Alexander 1, Daniel Straub 1, Cole Martinez 1, Tiki Toplak 1
UCSB: Derek Shoemaker 4, Reed Cotterill 3, Liam Gaughan 3, Shane Hauschild 2, Nicholas Jordan 1, Mitchell Hamilton 1, Tor Jensen 1, Spencer Likens 1
Saves
UCSD: Sam Thompson 8
UCSB: Chris Whitelegge 10
#TritonsRising
