Sept. 27, 2015 DAVIS, Calif. - Freshman Ido Goldschmidt scored a team-high four goals, all in the third quarter, to help 10th-ranked UC Davis pull away from a close first-half battle to a 15-11 win over Santa Clara in the final game of the Aggie Roundup men's water polo tournament at Schaal Aquatics Center Sunday evening. The Aggies previously lost to No. 5 Pacific, 15-4, in their morning matchup.
UC Davis moves to 8-6 for the year.
Goldschmidt's output in that pivotal quarter against the Broncos made him the Aggies' leading scorer for the day. Redshirt freshman Riley Venne had three goals in the two games, as the only player to net scores in each end of the doubleheader.
Senior utility Sean Grab and junior center Jacob Ley also had two goals each in the nightcap win against Santa Clara. The Aggies and Broncos battled to ties of 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5 in the first half. Sophomore driver John Raineri put SCU to a 5-4 lead on the third of his game-high four goals at the 5:36 mark in the second quarter, then junior Lyle Kipp assisted freshman Sasa Antunovic on a power play to equalize at 5-5. However, tempers flared in the minutes that followed, with two players on each team earning game exclusions.
Grab scored consecutive goals, including one of a rare 4-on-3 situation that followed the skirmishes, putting UC Davis up by a 7-5 lead going into halftime. That began an 8-2 Aggie run, featuring four Goldschmidt goals: a lob from the five position to start the third quarter, a 6-on-5 conversion from Venne at the 6:41 mark, a bar-in shot from the perimeter midway through the frame, and a counterattack he initiated with a steal on the opposite end near the three-minute mark. UC Davis held a 13-7 lead heading into the fourth.
Santa Clara rallied yet again in the final quarter, with goals by Raineri, Sam Toriggino and Julian Fraser, cutting the margin to 13-10. Fraser struck again at the 2:04 mark, converting a 6-on-5 from just beyond the five-meter marker, bringing the Broncos to within a 13-11 deficit. That's when Ley netted his two goals. He redirected a Cory Laidig entry pass at two meters with 1:40 to go, then brought the game to its final 15-11 state by finishing a fast break in the final minute.
Earlier in the day, UC Davis surrendered 11 unanswered goals by No. 5 Pacific before Venne buried a perimeter shot with just 78 seconds left in the third quarter. The Tigers had scored five in the first, four in the second and the first two of the third to craft an 11-0 lead.
Senior Austin Beckwith scored from the 1 and junior Tennyson netted a goal from set in the fourth.
The Aggie Roundup ends a run of five games in four days for UC Davis, which heads to Air Force for a Western Water Polo Association showdown on Saturday.
2015 AGGIE ROUNDUP, DAY 3
Schaal Aquatics Center • UC Davis games only.
| No. 5 Pacific (10-1) | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | - | 15 |
| No. 10 UC Davis (7-6) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | - | 4 |
GOALS - PAC: Alex Obert 3, Krisztian Laczkovics 3, Tim Reeves 2, Devon Thumwood 2, Aleksandar Petrovics 2, Kale Ai 1, J.T. Sarmento 1, Casey Fleming 1. UC DAVIS: Riley Venne 1, Sasa Antunovic 1, Austin Beckwith 1, Tennyson May 1.
GOALIE SAVES - PAC: Brady Moore 12. UC DAVIS: Spencer Creed 5.
| Santa Clara (3-9) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | - | 11 |
| No. 10 UC Davis (8-6) | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 | - | 15 |
GOALS - SCU: John Raineri 4, Graham McClone 2, Julian Fraser 2, Owen Asalone 1, Will Grant 1, Sam Toriggino 1. UC DAVIS: Ido Goldschmidt 4, Sean Grab 2, Riley Venne 2, Jacob Ley 2, Cory Laidig 1, Wes Lincoln 1, Brock Gordon 1, Sasa Antunovic 1, Spencer Galli 1.
GOALIE SAVES - SCU: Joe Maestri 8. UC DAVIS: Spencer Creed 4.
