2017 Men's Championship - Day 2 Recap

UC Davis and UC San Diego will meet in the Western Water Polo Association title game for the third straight year, thanks to their respective semifinal wins in Saturday's portion of the WWPA men's championship tournament held at Canyonview Aquatics Center. The Aggies scored a 17-8 win over Air Force in the first of two semis, while the Tritons clipped Cal Baptist in the day's finale.

The WWPA champion earns the league's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship, the final four of which takes place at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center on December 2-3.

GAME 5: #7 SANTA CLARA 15, #6 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 14
Shane Hughes scored four goals while Mac Carey added two goals and four assists as seventh-seeded Santa Clara employed a run of six straight goals in the second half to take a 15-14 win over sixth-seeded Loyola Marymount in the first consolation semifinal of the day.

Neil LeVecke led the Lions with three goals and four assists, including back-to-back exclusion goals early in the third quarter that helped LMU take a 9-7 lead. The game had five ties and four lead changes.

Matt Braun gave the Lions a 12-9 lead on a bar-in shot with 1:09 left in the third. Carey scored from the four spot with 10 seconds left in that frame to ignite would became a 6-0 run through the 2:34 mark of the fourth. Carey scored again to start the fourth, then his steal led to a Hughes counterattack goal that equalized at 12-12. Patrick Kirk then drew an exclusion in transition and converted the ensuing power play to give SCU the lead for good.

LMU's Braun and Davis Waugh scored two goals within a span of 20 seconds to bring the Lions back to within one. Tim Shaw, who blocked a five-meter penalty attempt early in the half, posted his second steal to keep LMU in. Braun had a final chance to force an overtime with a seven-meter heave at the buzzer, but SCU goalie Emil Heubner was there for the left-handed stop.

Santa Clara advances to the fifth-place game at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday. LMU will move to the seventh-place game, which opens Sunday's session at 8 a.m.

GAME 6: #4 CONCORDIA 13, #8 FRESNO PACIFIC 9
Junior attacker Angel Rojas netted six goals while Nick Walker and Spencer Hosch each added hat tricks, helping fourth-seeded Concordia pull away to a 13-9 win over eighth-seeded Fresno Pacific in Saturday's second consolation semifinal.

Walker and Hosch also had three steals apiece for the Eagles, while junior goalkeeper Alfredo De La Mora amassed 13 saves. Senior Erik Brown recorded three goals and four steals to lead the Sunbirds.

The two teams battled closely in the first half, with Lazar Raca putting FPU up by a 4-3 advantage with his power play just under the two-minute mark of the first. However, CUI scored nine of the next 12 goals of the contest from that point through the early part of the fourth. The Eagles held a 6-5 edge at the halftime break, then 10-7 through three before expanding to a 12-7 advantage on Rojas' counterattack goal just 50 ticks into the fourth.

Fresno Pacific will conclude its season in Sunday's seventh-place game at 8 a.m. CUI will face Santa Clara in the fifth-place contest at 9:40 a.m.

GAME 7: #1 UC DAVIS 17, #5 AIR FORCE 8 (Semifinal #1)
Senior Spencer Galli and junior Ido Goldschmidt each tallied three goals and three assists while center Eric Martel also performed a hat trick, helping No. 8t-ranked and top-seeded UC Davis to a 17-8 win over fifth-seeded Air Force in the first Saturday semifinal.

Falcon senior center Justin Harrison had three goals while Jack Empey netted a goal and issued two assists.

Martel scored all three of his goals in a 7-1 first-half run for the Aggies, who led 11-4 at the halftime break. UC Davis goalkeeper R.J. Quigley stopped a five-meter penalty shot during that stretch, one of his three saves on the day. Freshman Jonah Addington then relieved him in front on the Aggie cage for another three blocks and two steals.

Overall, the Aggies received at least one goal or assist from 12 different players and converted 5-for-8 on its 6-on-5 chances while limiting the Falcons to just 2-for-8. UC Davis will look to defend its WWPA team title in Sunday's 1 p.m. championship game. Air Force moves to the 11:20 a.m. third-place contest.

UC Davis Postgame Press Conference | Air Force Postgame Press Conference

GAME 8: #2 UC SAN DIEGO vs. #3 CAL BAPTIST (Semifinal #2)
The two most recent WWPA Freshman of the Year winners, Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt and Skyler Munatones, each scored three goals with two assists to lead 12th-ranked and second-seeded UC San Diego to its 33rd title game, thanks to an 11-9 victory over third-seeded and 17th-ranked Cal Baptist in Saturday's second semifinal.

Sam Thompson posted 13 stops with a steal in front of the Triton cage. Meanwhile, three Lancers -- freshman Jonny Lotero, freshman Joseph Galgani and senior Luke Schuler -- scored two goals apiece.

After the two teams locked up in a 2-2 tie for the first 13 minutes of play, UCSD gained some separation with goals by Kacper Langiewicz and Turnbow-Lindenstadt. The Tritons led 5-3 at the intermission, then increased their margin to 7-3 on Luka Vasilevic's exclusion goal with 4:24 remaining in the third.

CBU netted three fourth-quarter goals to close the gap in the final minute. Schuler and Galgani hit back-to-back in the final minute to cut the deficit to just 10-9. However, Munatones' hat trick goal and a field block by Turnbow-Lindenstadt prevented the Lancers from forcing overtime.

UC San Diego will meet UC Davis in Sunday's title contest, marking the fourth matchup between the two teams in 2017. Cal Baptist will take on Air Force in the 11:20 a.m. third-place game, with a chance of setting an NCAA-era program record of 22 wins.

UC San Diego Postgame Press Conference | Cal Baptist Postgame Press Conference

Results and live coverage from the WWPA Championship is available at the tournament headquarters at http://www.thewwpa.com/2017_WWPA_Mens_Championship.