2017 Men's Championship - Day 1 Recap

UC Davis, UC San Diego, Cal Baptist and Air Force each advanced to Saturday's championship semifinal rounds of the Western Water Polo Association men's championship, as action wrapped up at UCSD's Canyonview Aquatic Center Friday. The overall winner of the tournament will earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Championships, hosted by USC in early December.

Official Tournament Central page: http://www.thewwpa.com/2017_WWPA_Mens_Championship

GAME 1: #1 UC DAVIS 22, #8 FRESNO PACIFIC 7
Redshirt freshman Jack Stafford scored four goals while senior center Morgan Olson-Fabbro added another three to lead top-seeded and No. 8t-ranked UC Davis to a 22-7 victory in Friday's opener.

Stafford and Olson-Fabbro led 13 total Aggie scorers. Junior Ido Goldschmidt, sophomore Eric Martel, sophomore Max Somple and redshirt freshman Keenan Anderson each added two goals. Junior R.J. Quigley and freshman Jonah Addington split goalkeeping chores for UC Davis, each finishing with five saves and two steals in their respective halves.

For FPU, freshman two-meter Uros Pelemis shot 3-for-5 while junior hole setter Kyle Eoff planted two scores. Goalkeeper Josh Ramage collected 11 saves.

The Aggies never trailed in the contest, scoring nine unaswered from the two-minute mark in the first quarter through the midway point of the third. That transformed a 2-2 tie into a 9-2 halftime lead to an 11-2 edge by that point. UC Davis advances to Saturday's 4 p.m. semifinal contest, while Fresno Pacific moves to the 12:45 p.m. consolation semi.

GAME 2: #2 UC SAN DIEGO 16, #7 SANTA CLARA 9

WWPA Freshman of the Year Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt netted four goals while Skyler Munatones and Cooper Milton scored three each to lead second-seeded and 12th-ranked UC San Diego to a 16-9 win over seventh-seeded Santa Clara in Friday's second quarterfinal contest.

Junior utilty Alessandro Valania also had two goals and a game-high four assists for the host Tritons, with sophomore goalkeeper Sam Thompson guarding the UCSD cage for nine saves, including six in the final quarter. Santa Clara sophomore driver Patrick Kirk led his team with three goals in two steals.

The Broncos overcame an early 5-1 deficit by scoring four unanswered during a three-minute span before halftime. That tied the contest at 5-5 with 2:18 left in the second before Turnbow-Lindenstadt and Milton hit back-to-back to restore the Triton lead to 7-5 at the break. Munatones made it three straight with his goal to start the third quarter, and UCSD lead the rest of the way. Valania and Turnbow-Lindenstadt each scored twice in a 4-0 UCSD run as part of that team's seven-goal third.

UC San Diego advances to Saturday's 5:45 p.m. semifinal, with Santa Clara moving into the 11 a.m. consolation semifinal. The Tritons will play the remainder of the tournament without the services of junior Arman Momdzhyan, who was disqualified due to a brutality late in the second quarter.

GAME 3: #3 CAL BAPTIST 15, #6 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 9

Senior Jonny Lotero and junior Tanner Shore each posted hat tricks while senior two-meter defender Thomas Henline recorded five assists, helping 17th-ranked and third-seeded Cal Baptist ride a hot start to a 15-9 win over sixth-seed Loyola Marymount in the third quarterfinal tilt of the day.

For the Lions, four players scored two goals each, including defender Matt Braun, who added five steals. Joseph Shaw, another LMU player with two goals, provided two fourth-quarter assists to that offensive effort.

CBU's outside shooting game resulted in four straight to start the contest, another six in the second quarter to craft an 11-4 halftime lead. LMU brought in goalkeeper Tim Shaw during the second half, and got two saves and two steals from the 6-foot-7 junior, helping the Lions cool the Lancer scoring. Nonetheless, CBU maintained at least a five-goal margin after the break, and shot 15-for-27 overall compared to LMU's 9-for-34 success rate.

Cal Baptist will now take on host UCSD in Saturday's 5:45 p.m. semifinal game, while Loyola Marymount will open the day against Santa Clara at 11 a.m.

GAME 4: #5 AIR FORCE 15, #4 CONCORDIA 10

In Friday's only upset, fifth-seeded Air Force rode a pivotal 5-0 second quarter to defeat fourth-seeded Concordia by a 15-10 final in the fourth quarterfinal contest of the tourney.

Junior utility George Millard and senior center Justin Harrison each had three goals for the Falcons, while Harrison's fellow senior two-meter man Garrett Fisk notched two goals, two assists, three drawn exclusions, a steal and a field block. Meanwhile, junior attacker Spencer Hosch led the Eagles with five goals, Patrick Zsiros had another three, and Joshua Mundell chipped in two assists and a team-best three steals.

Although Air Force managed to hold a 5-2 lead in the first quarter, the game largely turned on the 5-0 second frame. Fisk assisted Edward Smet on back-to-back goals, then Millard, Ryan Dorris and Jack Empey made it five unanswered and a 10-3 edge at halftime. CUI came out with three straight in the second half to close the gap to four, but never approached any closer. Zsiros hit consecutive scores early in the fourth to narrow the margin to 13-9 and Hosch converted a power play to bring the score to 14-10. However, Air Force had an answer each time. A counterattack goal to Harrison with 2:38 left in regulation helped seal up the Falcon win.

Air Force will face top-seeded UC Davis in Saturday's first championship semifinal. Concordia moves to the 12:45 consolation semifinal with eighth-seeded Fresno Pacific.