Sept. 21, 2013
PLEASANT HILL, Calif. - Senior attacker Bernie Rogers scored two goals in each end of Saturday's doubleheaader action at the NorCal Invitational men's water polo tournament as UC Davis split action against No. 5 Stanford and No. 15 Santa Clara. The Aggies fell to the Cardinal by a 17-5 final in the opener, then held on to 9-8 victory against the Broncos in the nightcap.
UC Davis moves to 3-3 for the year, and 3-0 against members of the Western Water Polo Association.
Rogers and Bagdasarian led the Aggies with two gaols each against Stanford, with freshman Max Vigeant hitting the balance inhis collegiate debut. Against SCU, eight different players netted at least one goal for UC Davis, which established a 5-2 lead in the first five minutes of play.
Stanford led wire-to-wire in the early contest. Sophomore driver Bret Bonanni and junior utility Alex Bowen scored four goals, helping the Cardinal take a 4-0 edge by the midway point of the first quarter. Bagdasarian converted a power play to put UC Davis on the board at the 2:56 mark in the first, then later Rogers netted a goal at 1:14 to make it 5-2.
Rogers and Bagdasarian each had goals in the second quarter but the Aggies trailed by an 8-4 margin at the halftime break. THe Cardinal put up six in the third and three in the fourth to pull away to the victory.
In the nightcap, senior Tyler Elliott hit a 6-on-5 goal late in the first quarter to help UC Davis transform a 2-2 tie into a 5-2 edge. The Aggies successfully defended five power play chances for the Broncos in the second while a natural goal by Allen set the edge at 6-3 at the break.
Senior Theo Nasser scored in the opening minutes of the third quarter to cut the Aggie lead to two, but Bagdasarian and Michael Millstein answered with goals to set the margin at 8-4. Rogers then hit a penalty shot with 2:35 remaining to bring the tally to 9-4.
SCU freshman Graham McClone hit two goals in the fourth to bring his team to within a one-goal deficit at the 2:32 mark in the fourth, but neither team converted the rest of the way.
UC Davis will face UC Irvine at 10:50 a.m. to begin Sunday action. Both of the Aggies' Day 2 games will take place at DVC.
NORCAL INVITATIONAL WATER POLO TOURNAMENT
Cal Spieker Aquatics Center/Diablo Valley College
UC Davis games only.
| #13 UC Davis | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | 5 |
| #5 Stanford | 5 | 3 | 6 | 3 | - | 17 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Bernie Rogers 2, Alex Bagdasarian 2, Max Vigeant 1. Stanford: Bret Bonanni 4, Alex Bowen 4, Jackson Kimbell 3, Alex Churnside 2, Griffin Bolan 2, Reid Chase 1, Conner Cleary 1.
| #13 UC Davis | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | - | 9 |
| #15 Santa Clara | 3 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | 8 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Bernie Rogers 2, Teddy Nicholson 1, Tyler Elliott 1, Chris Richardson 1, Austin Beckwith 1, Trevor Allen 1, Alex Bagdasarian 1, Michael Millstein 1. SCU: Graham McClone 3, Theo Nasser 2, Jimmy Moore 1, Matt Godar 1, Tucker Carlson 1.
