Sept. 7, 2014 LA JOLLA, Calif. - Junior attacker Sean Grab totaled five goals while senior Chris Richardson added three more as 11th-ranked UC Davis dropped a pair of games against top-10 competition on Day 2 of the Triton Invitational men's water polo tournament at UC San Diego Sunday. The Aggies fell to No. 8 UC Irvine, 9-5, then lost to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara by a 12-7 final.
UC Davis moves to 1-3 for the year.
Grab, a transfer from Golden West College, scored his first Aggie hat trick in the morning contest against the Anteaters, then netted two more goals in the afternoon matchup with the Gauchos. He put UC Davis on the board with 2:43 left in the third against UCI, bringing the score to 5-1 after a 3-0 halftime deficit. Grab converted a 6-on-5 chance in the final seconds on the third quarter and scored on even strength in the fourth.
Richardson and junior Austin Beckwith also had goals in the fourth, each time trimming the `Eater lead to three goals.
Grab and sophomore Max Vigeant scored in the first quarter to send UC Davis to a 2-1 lead against UCSB. However, Ryan Bailani and Eric Van de Mortel each hit two in a five-goal Gaucho second, pulling the Aggies into a 6-3 deficit at halftime. Richardson converted a power play with 3:13 left in the third to bring UC Davis to its closest second-half deficit of 9-7, but UCSB scored two goals in the final minute of that frame plus the lone goal in the fourth quarter to close out the victory.
The Aggies completed three of their seven 6-on-5 opportunities against UCSB and 3 of 8 versus UCI, not counting a successful five-meter penalty by Richardson in Sunday's nightcap.
UC Davis continues to take on a tough road schedule with games at Cal and Pacific on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. Those two opponents were ranked No. 4 and No. 5 in the 2014 preseason national poll.
| No. 8 UC Irvine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | - | 9 |
| No. 11 UC Davis | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | - | 5 |
GOALS - UCI: Lovre Milos 3, Pablo Carballo 1, Jacob Mourer 1, Ryan Warde 1. UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Chris Richardson 1, Austin Beckwith 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UCI: Dylan Patterson 13. UC Davis: Spencer Creed 8.
| No. 7 UC Santa Barbara | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | - | 12 |
| No. 11 UC Davis | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | - | 7 |
GOALS - UCSB: Eric Van de Mortel 4, Nicholas Jordan 2, Ryan Bailani 2, Shane Hauschild 1, Mark Garner 1, Brian Snyder 1, Kevin Cappon 1. UC Davis: Sean Grab 2, Chris Richardson 2, Max Vigeant 1, Spencer Galli 1, Cory Laidig 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UCSB: Chris Whitelegge 11. UC Davis: Spencer Creed 6.
