Nov. 22, 2014 LOS ANGELES - Senior Michael Wright, junior Sean Grab and sophomore Lyle Kipp each scored two goals but 14th-ranked UC Davis could not hold its first-half lead, falling by an 11-9 upset to No. 17 Loyola Marymount in the Western Water Polo Association semifinal round at Burns Aquatic Center Saturday afternoon.
The Aggies slip to 15-17 for the year, and will face Cal Baptist in Sunday's third-place contest. The Lions improve to 9-17 and advance to the title matchup against top-seeded UC San Diego.
Seniors Teddy Nicholson and Chris Richardson each added one goal for UC Davis, as did redshirt freshman Spencer Galli. Freshman goalkeeper Spencer Creed tallied 10 saves.
For LMU, Milutin Mitrovic led all players with five goals while Liam Jennis chipped in a hat trick.
The Aggies ran out to a 3-1 lead through the first six minutes of play on goals by Galli, Nicholson and Kipp, and held a 5-3 edge late in the first half with even-strength goals from Richardson and Wright. Jennis cut the margin to 5-4 at halftime with his 6-on-5 conversion with 1:47 remaining before the break, then Matt Cuozzo opened the third quarter with the equalizer.
More power-play goals from Mitrovic and Emmanuel Di Stasio extended the Lion run to four unanswered through the 2:32 mark in the third, and UC Davis never erased the deficit despite closing into within a single goal on two separate occasions in the fourth.
The Aggies meet the Lancers in the consolation game at 11:15 p.m. No. 6 UC San Diego defeated CBU in the earlier semifinal, and will face the host Lions in its bid to earn the NCAA automatic berth at its own Canyonview Pool in December.
| No. 17 LMU (9-17) | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 11 |
| No. 14 UC Davis | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | - | 9 |
GOALS - LMU: Milutin Mitrovic 5, Liam Jennis 3, Jon Beck 1, Emmanuel Di Stasio 1, Matt Cuozzo 1. UC Davis: Lyle Kipp 2, Michael Wright 2, Sean Grab 2, Teddy Nicholson 1, Spencer Galli 1, Chris Richardson 1.
GOALIE SAVES - LMU: Dominick Beaudine 6. UC Davis: Spencer Creed 10.
