BERKELEY, Calif. – Landon Akerstrom scored a game-high five goals Friday, but No. 12 UC San Diego men's water polo was downed by No. 5 California, 14-11, on the opening day of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational.
Hosted by No. 5/6 California Sept. 20-22, the stacked field also includes No. 1/1 UCLA, No. 2/2, Stanford, No. 3/3 USC, No. 7/7 Princeton, No. 9/10 Long Beach State, and No. 12/13 UC Davis.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
UC San Diego never led in the game but tied it on two occasions.
Trailing 4-2 in the opening stanza, back-to-back goals from Tritons Lucas Romaguera and Mark Laurlund evened the score at 4-4. Romaguera's came on a five-meter penalty shot to end the first quarter, while Laurlund struck at 4:49 of the second.
The teams then traded power play goals, UC San Diego's coming from Eamon Hennessey, to bring the score to 5-5 with 2:37 remaining until halftime. In that span, four more goals were scored - three by California and one by UC San Diego - that made the score 8-6 Bears heading into the break.
Akerstrom's fifth goal of the game was scored on a penalty shot at 1:08 of the third quarter, making it 11-9 Bears. California was able to score three of the game's last five goals to ice the victory.
Aside from his five goals, Akerstrom also contributed two steals and a drawn exclusion. Six other Tritons scored single goals on the day.
Felipe Ferreira dished out a career-high four assists.
Logan Estes made seven saves in net for UC San Diego.
For the Bears, Max Casabella finished with eight points on four goals and four assists. He also added a steal and a drawn exclusion. Nik Mirkovic and Bende Pardi had three goals apiece.
Cal held a 32-23 advantage in shots. The Bears scored on half of their power play opportunities, going seven for 14. UC San Diego was four for 12 (.333).
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TRITON TIDBITS
• Landon Akerstrom's career-high in goals is six, which he accomplished earlier this season against Wagner.
• Lucas Romaguera has scored in eight of nine games and currently has an eight-game scoring streak running.
• UC San Diego is out-scoring opponents 128-80.
• The Tritons hold a 14.2 goals/game average compared to 8.9 for opponents.
• UC San Diego has scored 11 goals in each of its last two games.
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UP NEXT
Saturday is stacked as UC San Diego faces off against top-ranked UCLA (10 a.m.) as well as No. 7 Princeton (3 p.m.).
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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.
