UC Davis Wins 2019 WWPA Championship
WWPA Championship Central
Box Score
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Top-seed UC Davis captured its third Western Water Polo Association title in the last four years with a 14-5 win over No. 2-seed UC San Diego in the conference championship game Sunday afternoon at Lancer Aquatic Center.
The Aggies avenged their 11-10 defeat to the Tritons in the 2018 edition and now await their opening round opponent for the National Collegiate Water Polo Championship. UCD (16-7) earned the WWPA's automatic bid to the NCAA postseason.
UCD was able to pull away from UCSD (20-8) due to a stiff defensive effort led by WWPA Championship Most Valuable Player Jonah Addington, who helped keep the Tritons off the scoresheet for a 14-minute span between the second and third quarters. Addington, who posted a tournament-best .653 save percentage, made 14 saves in the title game.
"I couldn't be more proud of how hard our players have worked to get to this point. It's a lot of work. It's a lot of hours and it's not always pleasant," said UC Davis Child And Meisel Families Director of Men's Water Polo Daniel Leyson. "We stuck together through thick and thin and really came together at the end. We're honored to represent our conference at NCAA's and we can't wait to find out who we play."
The Aggies jumped out to a 2-0 lead and the Tritons responded in the same fashion. UCSD's Jack Ranj then scored to make it 3-3 with 7:04 remaining the second quarter. Unfortunately for the Tritons, it'd be the last time they'd find the cage until late in the third quarter.
Michael Plastino and George Kuesis pushed the lead to 5-3 before Addington stonewalled a penalty shot from Skyler Munatones that would have made it a one-goal game. The Aggies were able to tack on three more before the end of the half and led 8-3 at the break.
The lead eventually stretched to 11-3 before Alex Zamanian finally broke the scoring drought with 1:42 left in the third. Seven different UCD players scored goals during the Aggies' 8-0 run. Addington, not to be outdone, blocked another Munatones penalty shot in the second half.
For the Aggies, Sunday's victory marks the second win over the Tritons this season; Leyson's squad downed UCSD in the regular season finale for the tournament's top seed after falling to UCSD twice earlier in the season.
"We felt like we were going to get better as the season went on because many of our players were new to their roles, and be able to catch up with some teams with more experience," said Leyson. "We gradually got closer to [UC] San Diego and were able to take the last two."
UCD and UCSD have met in five straight WWPA title games. UCD now holds the edge in that department with three wins and two losses.
It is the fifth WWPA title overall for the Aggies (2019, 2017, 2016, 1997, 1996).
Max Somple, Yurii Hanley, Nir Gross, Spencer Towill and Kyle Reilly each tallied two goals and the Aggies saw nine different players score.
Karlo Krmek scored two goals and All-WWPA Tournament first teamer Jack Turner made nine saves in the losing effort for UCSD.
WWPA All-Tournament Team
MVP
Jonah Addington, Jr., UC Davis
First Team
Mac Carey, Sr., Santa Clara
PJ McDonough, Jr., California Baptist
Gabe Thorne, Sr., California Baptist
Jack Turner, R-Sr., UC San Diego
Skyler Munatones, Sr., UC San Diego
Holden Tamblyn, Sr., UC Davis
Jack Stafford, Jr., UC Davis
Jonah Addington, Jr., UC Davis
Second Team
Josh Ramage, Sr., Fresno Pacific
Mike Miller, Sr. Air Force
Austin Barton, Sr., Concordia
Joey Cavazos, Fr., Loyola Marymount
Patrick Kirk, Sr., Santa Clara
Joseph Galgani, Jr., California Baptist
Calder Hilde-Jones, Jr., UC San Diego
Kyle Reilly, Jr., UC Davis
3rd Place Game: #4 California Baptist 12 - #6 Santa Clara 10 | Box
Host California Baptist (17-15) recorded its best WWPA Championship finish since joining the conference, upending Santa Clara (15-13) 12-10 on Sunday morning in the Third Place Game.
CBU, which had previously been 0-4 in third place games, was paced by All-WWPA Tournament first-teamer PJ McDonough's four scores. Second teamer Gabe Thorne made 12 saves in the cage.
SCU and CBU had not been separated by more than a goal until Christian Britton made it 10-8 at the 4:04 mark of the fourth quarter. SCU quickly answered, but McDonough pushed the lead to 11-9.
SCU's Shane Hughes' powerplay goal pulled the Broncos back within one with 2:27 remaining. However, Kyle Christian found Zach Lowery for a Lancer goal on the next possession for another two-goal cushion.
Hughes finished with three scores for the Broncos.
Semifinal: #1 UC Davis 14 - #4 California Baptist 9 | Box
No. 4-seed California Baptist (16-15) had a two-goal lead early in the second half, but top-seeded UC Davis (15-7) shutout the Lancers over the final 12:49 en route to a 14-9 victory in the WWPA semifinals.
UCD goalkeeper Jonah Addington finished with 10 saves and Jack Stafford scored three second-half goals as the Aggies punched their ticket to their fifth-straight conference title game.
Things looked to be trending the hosts' way when Logan Mena's goal handed CBU a 9-7 lead with 4:49 on the clock in the third period. However, Stafford and George Kuesis pulled the Aggies back even with goals of over the next minute. Stafford added his second to give UCD a 10-9 lead with 2:18 left in the third, the Aggies' first lead since the 5:50 mark of the first quarter.
Both teams clamped down defensively in the fourth quarter with Stafford breaking the seal to hand UCD an 11-9 lead with 4:30 on the clock. Ian Ambidge and Keenan Anderson then scored after empty CBU possessions to put the game out of reach by the two-minute mark.
Mena led the Lancers with three goals. Goalkeeper Gabe Thorne's 10 saves in the first half helped CBU take a 7-5 lead at the break. Skyler Munatones converted a penalty at the other end to make it 3-3 with 1:36 left in the half.
Semifinal: #2 UC San Diego 7 - #6 Santa Clara 6 | Box
Skyler Munatones' rocket from the point with 22 seconds remaining lifted No. 2- seed UC San Diego (20-7) to a 7-6 win over No. 6-seed Santa Clara (15-12) in the final game of the day.
Trailing by one at the half, UCSD held SCU scoreless over a 13:52 span to keep itself in the game. The Tritons finally took their first lead of the game with a laser from Calder Hilde-Jones with 6:30 left.
SCU tied it up, but UCSD freshman Kaden Likins got into the act, finding the net to make it 6-5 with 1:22 remaining. SCU eventually tied it back up on a power play when Patrick Kirk found the lower left of the cage.
Following Munatones' goal, SCU's Adam Low attempted to tie it from three meters, but his shot was blocked before it could reach the net.
5th Place Game: #3 Loyola Marymount 21 - #5 Concordia 10 | Box
Loyola Marymount and Concordia racked up the most goals so far in the tournament in the Liona's 21-10 victory. The teams traded goals early on, but LMU held CUI scoreless for nearly eight and a half minutes while going on a 7-0 run to make its lead 11-3 on a goal from Joseph Cavazos in the second quarter.
The Lions led by nine at the half and did not let Concordia get closer than seven the rest of the way.
Cavazos netted a game- and season-high six goals while David Carrasco added four for the Lions. LMU ends the year 14-12 overall.
CUI finishes the year 9-18 overall.
7th Place Game: #7 Air Force 14 - #8 Fresno Pacific 5 | Box
Air Force never trailed en route to a nine-goal victory over the Sunbirds. FPU scored in the game's first minute, but was held without a goal for over 13 minutes in the first half, allowing Air Force to jump out to a 7-1 lead.
The lead eventually stretched to 10, 13-3, following a 6-1 run by Air Force in the third quarter. Campbell Harris notched a game-high three goals for the Falcons, who finish the year 11-17 overall.
FPU's Cody Wickman and Jacob Fairchild scored two goals apiece. The Sunbirds end 2019 6-23 overall.
2019 WWPA Championship Schedule & Results
Friday, November 22
Game 1 - #1 UC Davis 21 - #8 Fresno Pacific 3
Game 2 - #4 California Baptist 12 - #5 Concordia 6
Game 3 - #2 UC San Diego 14 - #7 Air Force 10
Game 4 - #6 Santa Clara 11 - #3 Loyola Marymount 10 (OT)
Saturday, November 23
Game 5 (7th Place) - #7 Air Force 14 - #8 Fresno Pacific 5
Game 6 (5th Place) - #3 Loyola Marymount 21 - #5 Concordia 10
Game 7 (Semifinal #1) - #1 UC Davis 14 - #4 California Baptist 9
Game 8 (Semifinal #2) - #2 UC San Diego 7 - #6 Santa Clara 6
Sunday, November 24
Game 9 (3rd Place) - # 4 California Baptist 12 - #6 Santa Clara 10
Game 10 (Championship) - #1 UC Davis 14 - #2 UC San Diego 5
2019 WWPA Championship
California Baptist will host the Western Water Polo Association Championship for the first time in program history, Nov. 22-24, 2019 at Lancer Aquatic Center in Riverside, Calif. The winner of the WWPA Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.