UC San Diego Wins 2018 WWPA Championship
2018 WWPA Men's Championship Central
FRESNO, Calif. - Top-seed UC San Diego will be competing in the National Collegiate Water Polo Championship following its 11-10 win over No. 2-seed UC Davis in the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Championship on Sunday afternoon at Clovis West Aquatic Center.
Kacper Langiewicz scored a game-high four goals, WWPA Tournament MVP Jack Turner had 15 saves, and the Tritons put together a 5-1 stretch over the first 9:47 of the second half en route to their 19th WWPA overall title and first since 2015. Sunday's contest marked the fourth straight time these two programs had met in the conference title match.
"This title means a lot to me, but it's all about those guys over there," said UC San Diego head coach Denny Harper, now in his 39th season. "I'm stoked for them, they really wanted this badly. We've been lucky enough to win multiple titles and all, but I think enough was enough for the Davis run that was being put together. It's a good thing, and we'll find out soon what we're doing for the NCAA's."
As winner of the WWPA, the Tritons earn an automatic qualifying berth for the 2018 National Collegiate Water Polo Championship opening round.
After leading at the break 6-5, UC San Diego put together a 5-1 stretch over the first 9:47 of the second half to increase its lead to 11-6. UC Davis pulled within three and had a chance to make it a two possession game, but Turner came up with a huge save on Jack Stafford to essentially ice the match with a minute remaining.
The Aggies scored twice in the final 55 moments as UC San Diego drained the clock.
Cooper Milton started UCSD's second half burst with a fortunate bounce. His shot careened off the crossbar, off the head of R.J. Quigley and it trickled over the line. Hilde-Jones and Langiewicz added goals and the Tritons took a 9-6 at the end of the third.
The Tritons traded two defensive stops with goals from Langiewicz and Milton to open the fourth and increase their lead to five.
Goldschmidt, the WWPA Player of the Year, led the Aggies with three scores.
Game 9 (3rd Place): #3 Loyola Marymount, #5 Air Force | Box Score
No. 5-seed Air Force held No. 3-seed Loyola Marymount scoreless the final 12 minutes, but the Falcons' late rally fell short as the Lions prevailed 10-7 in the third pace game.
Blazo Mitrovic netted three, and Joseph Shaw and Matt Braun added a pair, as the Lions opened up a 10-4 lead midway through the third period. USAFA cut it to three with just over four minutes remaining, but could not find another the rest of the way.
WWPA All-Tournament Team
MVP: Jack Turner, R-Jr., UC San Diego
First Team:
James Burke, So., Air Force
Blazo Mitrovic, Fr., Loyola Marymount
Alex Athymaritis, Jr., Loyola Marymount
Ido Goldschmidt, Sr., UC Davis
R.J. Quigley, Sr., UC Davis
Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt, So., UC San Diego
Kacper Langiewicz, R-Jr., UC San Diego
Jack Turner, R-Jr., UC San Diego
Second Team:
Alfredo De La Mora, Sr., Concordia
Kyle Eoff, Sr., Fresno Pacific
Tanner Shore, Sr., Cal Baptist
Reilley May, Sr/, Santa Clara
Luke Andres, Jr., Air Force
Joe Shaw, So., Loyola Marymount
Riley Venne, Sr., UC Davis
Calder Hilde-Jones, So., UC San Diego
WWPA Championship Schedule
Friday, November 16, 2018
Game 1, 9:30 AM: #1 UC San Diego 11, #8 Fresno Pacific 4
Game 2, 11:15 AM: #5 Air Force 6, #4 California Baptist 5
Game 3, 1 PM: #2 UC Davis 19, #7 Concordia 6
Game 4, 2:45 PM: #3 Loyola Marymount 12 vs #6 Santa Clara 10
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Game 5 (7th Place Game): #8 Fresno Pacific 11, #7 Concordia 10 (OT)
Game 6 (5th Place Game): #4 California Baptist, #6 Santa Clara
Game 7 (Semifinal #1): #1 UC San Diego 15, #5 Air Force 3
Game 8 (Semifinal #2): #2 UC Davis 17, #3 Loyola Marymount 8
Sunday, November 18, 2018
Game 9 (3rd Place): #3 Loyola Marymount 10, #5 Air Force 7
Game 10 (Championship): #1 UC San Diego 11, #2 UC Davis 10