WWPA Championship - Saturday Recap
SATURDAY RECAP: TOP SEEDS ADVANCE TO WWPA FINALS
SANTA CLARA - UC Davis and UC San Diego each advanced to the Western Water Polo Association title game, thanks to victories in Saturday's men's championship semifinals. That will send Loyola Marymount and Cal Bapist to Sunday's third-place contest, while Air Force will take on host Santa Clara in the fifth-place matchup.
This is now the second year that the eighth-ranked Aggies and 14th-ranked Tritons will meet up in the WWPA final.
AIR FORCE 13, FRESNO PACIFIC 9
Junior utility Jack Empey and senior center Zack Kamai each scored four goals while Riley Quinlan added two goals and two assists to lift Air Force to a 13-9 victory over Fresno Pacific in Saturday's consolation semifinal. Senior David Maes led the Sunbirds with a game-high five goals and two assists. FPU finishes the tournament in seventh place.
The two teams battled to a 3-3 tie through the first quarter until Kamai scored three goals in a span of two minutes to give the Falcons the lead for good. AFA held a 9-5 edge at halftime and an 11-6 margin through three quarters.
UC DAVIS 5, CAL BAPTIST 4
Junior Cory Laidig scored two goals with five steals to lead top-seeded UC Davis to a 5-4 win over fourth-seeded Cal Baptist in the first semifinal of the day. Four Lancers -- Jonathan Lotero, Thomas Henline, Royce Daniel Laverne and Tanner Shore -- accounted for their four goals.
The Aggies crafted a 3-1 lead in the first quarter but then went scoreless for more than four minutes, as Henline and Daniel Laverne brought CBU back to a 3-3 tie by the midway point in the second frame. UC Davis sophomore Sasa Antunovic answered with a power-play goal with 3:36 to go in the half, giving his team a 4-3 edge at the break. The Aggies won the defensive battle in the second half, with junior goalie Spencer Creed tallying four saves and a steal in the final quarter.
UC SAN DIEGO 8, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 7
WWPA Freshman of the Year Skyler Munatones scored a game-high three goals to help second-seeded UC San Diego hold off a late Loyola Marymount run in an 8-7 semifinal win to close out Saturday's contest. Junior Arman Momdzhyan added two goals for the Tritons while freshman Alex Athimaritis netted two goals for the Lions.
UCSD took a 2-1 lead in the first quarter, then stretched it to 4-1 after back-to-back Munatones scores to start the second. The Tritons led by a 5-3 halftime margin, then pulled ahead to as much as 7-3 on goals by Nick Alexander and Andy Moore. LMU's Dayne Jagga and UCSD's Munatones then traded goals to hold the margin at 8-4. Athimaritis, Jon Beck and Cory McGee scored in succession to bring the Lions back to within a goal with 80 seconds left in regulation. However, LMU could not manage a shot in its lone possession, prevening an overtime period and allowing UCSD to pursue a fourth consecutive title.
The tournament headquarters, complete with links to video and stats, are located at http://www.thewwpa.com/f/men/2016_WWPA_Men's_Championship.php.