Oct. 21, 2006

DAVIS, Calif. - Senior Trevor Long recorded a game-high four goals while junior Nick Arrigo scored two during a five-goal third quarter, as UC Davis defeated UC Santa Cruz, 12-5, in men's Western Water Polo Association action at Schaal Aquatics Center Saturday.

The Aggies, playing their first home contest after starting the season with 18 games on the road, improve to 10-9 for the year.

Long had the game's first goal at the 3:42 mark in the first period, hit a five-meter penalty shot in the second period, added an advantage goal at 1:37 in the fourth, then followed that with a fourth goal less than 32 seconds later. His man-up goal that completed his hat trick settled a wild play in which Nick DeVries was charged with an exclusion, then a player from each team received game ejections for a scuffle. As a result, Long scored his third goal on a rare 5-on-4 situation.

The Slugs managed to match UC Davis goal-for-goal for most of the first half, getting scores by DeVries and Brian Fischi. Long's second-quarter penalty shot put the Aggies up by a slim 3-2 margin at the break.

In the third quarter, Arrigo hit a goal on the Aggies' first posession, then senior 2-meter Kevin Bacharach extended the UC Davis lead to 5-2 on a man-up goal. Santa Cruz' Joel McKown answered with a goal at the 3:47 mark to cut the deficit to two goals, but UC Davis scored on three straight goals by Jesse Tweed, Joseph Smith and Arrigo to craft an 8-3 advantage entering the fourth.

Long, Bacharach and Adam Lindsay accounted for the four UC Davis goals in the final period, while Grant Shubin and Lucas Zepeda each scored 6-on-5 goals for UCSC.

Aggie goalkeeper Mike McGee finished with 11 saves, including two against 6-on-5 chances. His counterpart, Joe Lyons, totalled 10 saves in the Slug net.

UC Davis takes on WWPA foe Loyola Marymount on Sunday. The Lions lost a 9-6 upset to Santa Clara in a neutral-site game at Schaal earlier in the day.