Sept. 6, 2015 LA JOLLA, Calif. -
Redshirt freshman
Riley Venne and senior
Sean Grab each converted hat tricks to lead No. 13 UC Davis to a 9-7 upset of No. 8 Pepperdine to open the Aggies' Sunday action at the Triton Invitational men's water polo tournament at Canyonview Aquatic Center Sunday. UC Davis later fell to No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, 11-6, in its tourney finale.
The Aggies move to 2-2 for the year. The victory over the Waves is only their second in school history and their first since a 10-9 win back in 2006. The perennial top-10 power Pepperdine had won 12 straight meetings since.
Grab scored two goals on 6-on-5 chances in the first quarter, then picked up his third in the second frame to help the Aggies to a 5-2 halftime lead. Venne did his damage in the second half, scoring on even strength in the final seconds of the third frame before delivering on two power plays in the fourth. His second goal, at 3:36 in the final quarter, broke a 7-7 tie, while his hat trick goal at 1:52 extended the margin to 9-7.
UC Davis also defended against three 6-on-5 opportunities for Pepperdine in those closing minutes. The game was physical overall, with 30 total exclusions and two majors.
Lyle Kipp and Sasa Antunovic also had goals for the Aggies, while sophomore Spencer Creed blocked nine Wave shots in front of the cage.
Grab scored three goals in the nightcap against UC Santa Barbara, but the Gauchos rode a 4-1 halftime lead and a 9-3 edge in the fourth to the win. Antunovic, Ido Goldschmidt and Marcus Anderson each added goals for the Aggies.
Creed posted 11 more saves for UC Davis but his counterpart, freshman Chris Whitelegge, stopped 15 before handing over the net-minding duties to Sam Venable.
The Aggies return to action in a road game at revived program San Jose State on Saturday, then host California for their home opener on Sunday at noon.
2015 TRITON INVITATIONAL, DAY 2
Hosted by UC San Diego. UC Davis games only.
| No. 13 UC Davis | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | - | 9 |
| No. 8 Pepperdine | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | - | 7 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Riley Venne 3, Ido Goldschmidt 1, Lyle Kipp 1, Sasa Antunovic 1. PEP: Marko Asic 2, Luke Hewko 2, Artak Arzumanyan 2, Mark Urban 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UC Davis: Spencer Creed 9. PEP: Zach Rhodes 14.
| No. 13 UC Davis | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | - | 6 |
| No. 7 UC Santa Barbara | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | - | 11 |
GOALS - UC Davis: Sean Grab 3, Ido Goldschmidt 1, Sasa Antunovic 1, Marcus Anderson 1. UCSB: Shaun Hauschild 2, Thomas Martinho 2, Nicholas Jordan 2, Borislav Jovanovic 1, Reed Cotterill 1, Anthony Buljan 1, Nick WIley 1, Cameron Yates 1.
GOALIE SAVES - UC Davis: Spencer Creed 11. UCSB: Chris Whitelegge 15, Sam Venable 2.
