Oct. 11, 2014 LOS ANGELES - Freshman Cory Laidig scored four goals to lead No. 11 UC Davis to a 14-10 win over No. 18 Whittier in Saturday's nightcap of the SoCal men's collegiate water polo tournament at UCLA's Sunset Canyon Pool. The Aggies fell 9-6 in a tough battle with No. 5 Long Beach State earlier in the afternoon.
The Aggies move to 8-10 for the season.
Laidig netted a goal in each quarter of play in the victory over the Poets while senior Michael Wright, junior Sean Grab and junior Austin Beckwith added two apiece. Save for the game's first goal -- one of four by Whittier's Goran Mataic -- the Aggies never trailed in the contest. UC Davis led 4-1 after the first quarter and 10-5 at the halftime break.
Mataic hit two power-play goals and a natural for the Poets in the second half, the last of which trimmed the margin to 12-9, but the Aggies never led their opponent any closer.
Freshman goalkeeper Spencer Creed posted 10 saves while six different UC Davis players had one goal each in the early-afternoon setback against the 49ers. Long Beach State took a 2-0 lead within the first five minutes of play but the Aggies fought back to a 3-3 tie early in the second on goals by junior Sean Grab, senior Chris Richardson and freshman Corey Laidig. Sophomore Max Vigeant pushed UC Davis to its first lead at 4-3 with 3:31 to go in the first half before Dimitrios Lappas equalized at the 1:44 mark. The two teams went to the break in a 4-4 deadlock.
Joey Fabian converted a 6-on-5 chance and Milos Vrzic scored a natural goal to give LBSU a 6-4 lead midway through the third. UC Davis never equalized, although a power-play goal from junior Alex Bagdasarian and an even-strength goal by Teddy Nicholson each cut the deficit to one. LBSU hit insurance goals down the stretch to hold off any further opportunities for an Aggie upset.
Creed also had 10 saves in the nightcap, giving him 20 for the day with 19 goals against.
UC Davis opens Sunday's play against No. 10 Princeton at 11:45 a.m.
2014 SOCAL MEN'S WATER POLO TOURNAMENT, DAY 1
UCLA Sunset Canyon Pool/Spieker Aquatics Center • UC Davis games only.
| No. 11 UC Davis | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 6 |
| No. 5 Long Beach State | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 9 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Sean Grab 1, Chris Richardson 1, Cory Laidig 1, Max Vigeant 1, Alex Bagdasarian 1, Teddy Nicholson 1. LBSU: Dimitrios Lappas 3, Milos Vrzic 2, Ricardo Guimares 1, Jacob Fujioka 1, Joey Fabian 1, Zachary Kappos 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UC Davis: Spencer Creed 10. LBSU: Pavo Ljepopio 5.
| No. 18 Whittier | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | - | 10 |
| No. 11 UC Davis | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | - | 14 |
GOALS - WC: Goran Mataic 4, Massimiliano Mirarchi 3, Wedge Mothen 1, Marko Zuric 1, Filip Delic 1. UC Davis: Cory Laidig 4, Michael Wright 2, Sean Grab 2, Austin Beckwith 2, Chris Richardson 1, Teddy Nicholson 1, Max Vigeant 1, Jacob Ley 1.
GOALIE SAVES - WC: Ryan Brunansky 6. UC Davis: Spencer Creed 10.
