Sept. 25, 2010
DAVIS, Calif. - Junior center Aaron Salit scored three first-half goals to help 11th-ranked UC Davis rally to a 7-7 halftime score before No. 3 California pulled away to a 13-8 win in Saturday's final regulation game of the Aggie Shootout men's water polo tournament at Schaal Aquatics Center. In their morning matchup, junior goalie Kevin Peat helped lead the Aggies to a 5-4 comeback win against 15th-ranked conference rival Santa Clara.
UC Davis is now 10-4 for the season and a perfect 9-0 against members of the Western Water Polo Association.
Aggie senior attacker Cory Lyle added two goals in the nightcap battle with the Golden Bears. Hicks also netted a goal against Cal, joining Salit and Lyle among the Aggies to tally a score in each game.
In the morning victory, UC Davis waited almost 15 full minutes before breaking the seal on the Santa Clara cage. Trailing 3-0 with 1:15 remaining in the first half, senior Matt Richardson sent a long pass to Hicks at the 1 position. Hicks promptly sent a shot cross-cage into the upper right corner of the net for the Aggies' first goal. Less than 30 seconds later, the tandem struck again: a Carlos Martinez steal at two meters set the stage for a Richardson-to-Hicks hookup with 0:41 on the clock, cutting the Bronco lead to one.
Salit tied the game at 3-3 early in the third period, corraling a bar-out shot and putting the ball back through the frame. Then Ryan Hagens delivered a go-ahead goal on an outside shot with 4:47 remaining in the third. However, SCU equalized on its final possession of the period, with Travis Greco finding Kyle Nadel near the left post at the 0:25 mark. UC Davis put up the only tally of the fourth period when Hicks set up Lyle on an "alley-oop" style goal at two meters with five minutes left in the game.
In the Aggies' nightcap, Cal stormed to a 4-0 lead after just three minutes of play, converting a pair of 6-on-5 opportunites plus a five-meter penalty shot. Richardson converted an extra-man chance at 3:53 then assisted Salit in the waning seconds of the period, halving the Golden Bears' lead to 4-2.
The second period provided the majority of the fireworks for UC Davis. Salit cut the Cal lead to a single goal, taking an assist from Martinez at two meters, then had a chance to tie the game at 5:15. Golden Bear goalkeeper Wil Toppen left the cage in hopes to steal the ball from Salit down low. When Salit won that battle, he had a look at a relatively unguarded cage. However, his lob over the Cal defenders also sailed high of the goal. Seniors Brian Dudley and Zach White promptly scored two goals to restore the Golden Bear lead to 6-3.
Later in the second after White's third goal made it 7-4, UC Davis answered with three straight. Hicks delivered on a 6-on-5 chance at the 2:15 mark, then drew a five-meter foul with 1:30 to go. Lyle converted the penalty shot to bring the score to 7-6. Lyle scored again with 22 seconds left in the half, this time on a long cross-cage lob that eluded Toppen. The two teams went to the halftime break locked in a 7-7 tie.
Nonetheless, the 13-time national champions regrouped in the second half, outscoring UC Davis by a 6-1 margin after the break. White scored in each of the third and fourth periods to finish with a game-high five goals. Justin Parsons, who replaced Toppen at goalie, tallied four saves in defense of his cage. Serbian National Team member Luka Saponjic added a pair of second-half goals to help the Golden Bears escape an upset.
In other action on Saturday, Cal rode an 11-2 halftime lead to a 15-5 win over Redlands in the second contest. Marin Balarin scored a hat trick for the Golden Bears, while Andrew Smith-Jones and Blake vanHartesvelt each tallied two goals for the Bulldogs. Santa Clara also rode a fast start to victory over Redlands, as James Case scored three goals in the Broncos' 12-6 victory.
Cal and UC Davis also played American River College in exhibition play to round out Saturday's tournament slate.
The lone Sunday game features UC Davis and Redlands, ranked second in the national Division III coaches' poll.
AGGIE SHOOTOUT WATER POLO TOURNAMENT, DAY 1
Sept. 25, 2010 • Schaal Aquatics Center
UC Davis games only.
| No. 15 Santa Clara (5-6) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | 4 |
| No. 18 UC Davis (10-3) | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | - | 5 |
GOALS - SCU: James Case 1, Daley Meistrell 1, Joshua Luebke 1, Kyle Nadel 1. UC Davis: Colin Hicks 2, Ryan Hagens 1, Aaron Salit 1, Cory Lyle 1.
GOALIE SAVES - SCU: Michael Wishart 7 saves, 5 goals against (32:00). UC Davis: Kevin Peat 9 saves, 4 goals against (32:00).
| No. 3 California (7-1) | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | - | 13 |
| No. 18 UC Davis (10-4) | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | - | 8 |
GOALS - Cal: Zach White 5, Luke Saponjic 2, Ivan Rackov 2, Cory Nasoff 1, Brian Dudley 1, Perry Short 1, Giacomo Cupido 1. UC Davis: Aaron Salit 3, Cory Lyle 2, Matt Richardson 1, Colin Hicks 1, Anders MacCarthy 1.
GOALIE SAVES - Cal: Wil Toppen 2 saves, 7 goals against (16:00); Justin Parsons 4 saves, 1 goal against (16:00). UC Davis: Kevin Peat 4 saves, 13 goals against (32:00).
Complete Day 1 Scoresheets in PDF Format 
