Nov. 16, 2007
USAFA, Colo. - Senior driver Nick Arrigo scored four goals while four other Aggies each added two to lead top-seeded UC Davis past eighth-seeded UC Santa Cruz, 17-9, in first-round action at the Western Water Polo Association Championships, hosted by the U.S. Air Force Academy.
The Aggies, ranked ninth in the November 14 national poll, improves to 21-6 overall. They will face the host Falcons in Saturday's semifinal.
Seniors Joseph Smith and Matt MacLachlan and juniors Grant Muenter and Adam Lindsay each registered multi-goal games in support of Arrigo. Goalkeeper Mike McGee, who earlier in the week was selected as the WWPA Player of the Year, tallied seven saves.
Despite their difference in seeds, the two teams battled to a close game in the early going. The Aggies jumped out to a 3-0 margin, but UCSC senior Justin Garver answered with consecutive goals to cut the lead to 3-2. Later in the first quarter, after Smith's first goal pushed the UC Davis lead back up to 5-2, the Banana Slugs responded with two more goals, trimming the margin back to a single score.
UC Davis began to pull away near the end of halftime. Arrigo scored with 35 seconds remaining in the first half to bump the score to 8-5 then reserve Jim Breen added a buzzer-beater to send the Aggies to the break with a 9-5 advantage. Arrigo completed his hat trick in the opening minute of the second half to continue what turned into a 7-0 UC Davis run.
Slug senior Angel Martinez finally broke the scoring drought with three minutes left in the third, bringing the score to 14-6. However, UCSC never approached closer than the eight-goal deficit, as the Aggies protected the win down the stretch.
Air Force, UC Davis' semifinal opponent, edged UC San Diego in an 11-10 thriller earlier in Friday's action. No. 2 seed Santa Clara and No. 3 seed Loyola Marymount also advanced, beating Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer, respectively.
The Aggie-Falcon game takes place at 2:30 p.m. PST Saturday.
| UC Santa Cruz | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | 9 |
| #9 UC Davis | 5 | 4 | 6 | 1 | - | 17 |
GOALS - UCSC: Justin Garver 4, Connor Huff 2, Jacob Morton 1, Angel Martinez 1, Grant Shubin 1. UC Davis: Nick Arrigo 4, Joseph Smith 2, Adam Lindsay 2, Grant Muenter 2, Matt MacLachlan 2, Philippe Chordas 1, Adam Bennett 1, Jim Breen 1, Jesse Tweed 1, Matt Richardson 1.
