Sept. 20, 2015 STANFORD, Calif. -
Senior utility
Sean Grab scored hat tricks on each end of Sunday's doubleheader, helping 10th-ranked UC Davis post matching 10-7 wins over No. 16 Air Force and No. 12 Princeton en route to a ninth-place finish at the NorCal Invitational men's water polo tournament at Avery Aquatics Center Sunday.
The Aggies finish 3-1 at the tournament, moving to 6-4 for the year.
Adding the six goals on Sunday, Grab finished the weekend as UC Davis' high scorer with nine. Freshman Sasa Antunovic, sophomore Spencer Galli and senior Austin Beckwith also netted goals in each victory. The NorCal Invite annually features one of the toughest fields of any collegiate tourney. Eleven of the nation's top 12 programs attended the 2015 edition, hosted by Stanford. This tourney, along with its SoCal counterpart, is so prestigious that it has historically defined the following week's national rankings.
No. 10 UC DAVIS 10, No. 16 AIR FORCE 7
Grab and freshman attacker Ido Goldschmidt each scored two of their game-high three goals as part of a five-goal third quarter, helping UC Davis break away from its Western Water Polo Association rival.
The Aggies never trailed in the contest, although the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie through the first quarter. Goldschmidt broke the scoreless tie midway through the frame, then Grab converted a 6-on-5 chance with 3:12 to go in establishing a 2-0 lead. However, senior Ben Rogers and sophomore Garrett Fisk answered with goals in the final minutes to even the tally heading into the second.
UC Davis then outscored the Falcons by a 7-1 margin in the second and third quarters. Antunovic netted the only goals of the second, hitting a natural and a power play to set the halftime board at 4-2. Grab and Goldschmidt did the bulk of the damage in the third, with only a Rogers five-meter penalty shot interrupting the Aggie offensive outburst.
Galli and Beckwith also netted goals in the second half to help UC Davis hold its edge. Air Force scored two more in the final 101 seconds, but by then the Aggies had largely wrapped up the victory.
No. 10 UC DAVIS 10, No. 12 PRINCETON
Grab scored three goals and junior Lyle Kipp hit another two as the Aggies climbed out of an early deficit to win Sunday's thrilling finale. The two teams locked up in a 2-2 tie through one quarter, then UC Davis held leads of 4-3 at halftime and 8-6 at the end of the third.
The Tigers kept the Aggies off the board for the first four minutes, with Jordan Colina and Michael Swart scoring goals to take a 2-0 lead. Galli ended the scoreless start for UC Davis with his goal at the 3:38 mark in the first, then Kipp equalized a minute later.
UC Davis defended against five Princeton power plays for the remainder of the first quarter and the first six minutes of the second. Grab hit his first goal at the :138 mark to give the Aggies their first lead, only to have Swart connect on the second of his three goals, tying the game for a second time. Grab immediately responded with the go-ahead after the next restart to lift UC Davis to the advantage at the break.
Beckwith and Kipp added goals early in the third to extend the Aggie lead to three, but Princeton fought back to within a 6-5 deficit with three minutes left in the period. Gordon converted a 6-on-5 chance after Tiger senior Bradley Wachtell was majored from the contest, but Colina finished his hat trick to bring Princeton to within a 7-6 margin.
Antunovic and Swart traded goals to keep the deficit at a single goal into the fourth. UC Davis closed out strong as redshirt freshman Riley Venne scored with 5:23 left, the 5-man defense thwarted yet another Princeton power play, and Grab delivered his third goal to put his team in double digits.
The Aggies begin WWPA play with a Thursday night home game against Cal Baptist, then host the three-day, 19-game Aggie Roundup tournament starting Friday.
2015 KAP7 NORCAL INVITATIONAL, DAY 2
Hosted by Stanford • UC Davis games only.
| No. 16 Air Force | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | - | 7 |
| No. 10 UC Davis | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | - | 10 |
GOALS - AFA: Ben Rogers 2, Garrett Fisk 2, Riley Thomas 2, Justin Harrison 1. UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Ido Goldschmidt 3, Sasa Antunovic 2, Spencer Galli 1, Austin Beckwith 1.
| No. 12 Princeton | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | - | 7 |
| No. 10 UC Davis | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | - | 10 |
GOALS - PRINCETON: Jordan Colina 3, Michael Swart 3, Bret Hinrichs 1. UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Lyle Kipp 2, Spencer Galli 1, Austin Beckwith 1, Brock Gordon 1, Sasa Antunovic 1, Riley Venne 1.
