Nov. 23, 2014 LOS ANGELES - Senior Teddy Nicholson and junior Sean Grab each scored hat tricks while four other Aggie scored two goals each, boosting 14th-ranked UC Davis to a 17-10 victory over Cal Baptist in the Western Water Polo Association third-place game at Burns Aquatic Center Sunday.
The Aggies finish their season at 16-17. The Lancers, among the teams receiving votes for the national poll, close out at 15-20 overall.
Grab netted goals in each of the first three quarters while Nicholson hit all of his scoring in the second half, as UC Davis matched its season-high scoring for the year. Senior Chris Richardson, junior Austin Beckwith, sophomore Lyle Kipp and freshman Cory Laidig also had two goals each. Jacob Ley, Wes Lincoln and Spencer Galli scored once each to account for the balance of the offense. Redshirt freshman Jake Becker tallied six goalie saves in his first collegiate start in front of the net.
For CBU, Brent Teraoka had three goals while Cody Wetherbee and Eric Carnohan each hit two. Sophomore Joseph Moorman tallied 13 blocks at goakeeper.
The Aggies fell into an early 2-0 before Laidig put them on the board with under five minutes left in the first, then Grab equalized just 30 seconds later. A Wetherbee goal kept CBU ahead by a 3-2 margin with 2:23 remaining in the opener, but UC Davis responded with five straight to take a 7-3 halftime edge. Kipp had two goals as part of that surge, converting a five-meter chance with 2:50 remaining in the second, then adding a natural goal immediately after.
Laidig and Ley opened the third quarter with goals to make it seven unanswered before Teraoka ended his team's 12-minute scoring drought.
The Aggies scored five goals in each of the third and fourth quarters to pull away to the victory. Nicholson's third goal made it 15-6 with 4:26 left in the fourth for the largest margin of the contest. The explosive Lancer offense added four goals down the stretch but Lincoln and Beckwith each converted 6-on-5 opportunities to help keep UC Davis out of reach.
After the conference title game won by UC San Diego, Richardson and senior defender Michael Wright each made the WWPA All-Tournament first team while Nicholson earned a spot on the second team.
This marks the first time UC Davis has finished its season with a win since 2009. The Aggies fell in the WWPA title game in each of the 2010, 2011 and 2013 seasons, and slipped to fourth in 2012.
| Cal Baptist (15-20) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | - | 10 |
| No. 14 UC Davis (16-17) | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | - | 17 |
GOALS - CBU: Brent Teraoka 3, Cody Wetherbee 2, Eric Carnohan 2, David Ring 1, Davor Koret 1, Nick Candau 1. UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Teddy Nicholson 3, Lyle Kipp 2, Austin Beckwith 2, Chris Richardson 2, Cory Laidig 2, Jacob Ley 1, Spencer Galli 1, Wes Lincoln 1.
GOALIE SAVES - CBU: Joseph Moorman 13. UC Davis: Jake Becker 6.
