Opening Punch Leads to Title
LOS ANGELES - Sixth-ranked UC San Diego showed its depth and experience to claim the 2014 Western Water Polo Association Championship, defeating host LMU 12-6 on Sunday afternoon at the Burns Aquatics Center.
Tournament MVP Cameron Ravanbach set the tone early, making 13 of his 16 saves in the first half as the Triton jumped out to a 12-1 lead. Joe Dietrich and Lukas Syka had three goals each. Matt Cuozzo and Jon Beck had two goals apiece.
Cuozzo made it a 2-1 game with 4:44 to play in the first quarter and from there the Tritons took over. Showing their depth, five different players scored the next five goals - including Matt Michalko, Josh Stiling, Syka, Andrew Moore and Dietrich to take an 8-1 halftime lead.
Dietrich scored twice more along with Syka and David Higginson for the 12-1 lead. Beck finally snapped the 10-goal run with 1:07 to play. The Lions would add three more as Kirk Wilenius came in to make eight saves in the second half.
The Tritons win the WWPA's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
2014 WWPA All-Tournament Team
First Team
Joe Dietrich (Sr.) - UC San Diego
Emanuel Di Stasio (Jr.) - LMU
Milutin Mitrovic (Jr.) - LMU
Joseph Moorman (So.) - California Baptist
Cameron Ravanbach (Sr.) - UC San Diego (MVP)
Chris Richardson (Sr.) - UC Davis
Josh Stiling (Sr.) - UC San Diego
Michael Wright (Sr.) - UC Davis
Second Team
David Guibord (Sr.) - Santa Clara
Liam Jennis (So.) - LMU
Teddy Nicholson (Sr.) - UC Davis
Robby Stiefel (So.) - Air Force
Lukas Syka (Sr.) - UC San Diego
Brent Teraoka (So.) - California Baptist