Sept. 7, 2016

DAVIS, Calif. - With the Bruno Classic in the rearview mirror and the home opener against No. 18 San Jose State on the immediate horizon, UC Davis men's water polo looks to raise the level of play to match the lofty goals set by fourth-year head coach Daniel Leyson. The 13th-ranked Aggies take on the Spartans at 2 p.m. at Schaal Aquatics Center Saturday.

UC Davis underwent a rollercoaster of a weekend in Rhode Island, losing a 13-12 heartbreaker against 14th-ranked Harvard, edging host Brown by a 9-8 final, piling up 18 goals in a victory over George Washington, then toughing out a physical slugfest against St. Francis Brooklyn. As a whole, the entire weekend served as a learning experience for the Aggies, providing plenty of what Coach Leyson dubbed as "educational material." "Despite the fact that we have played consistently from January until now, we were reminded that the season is completely different and that there is still rust that needs to be shaken off in the first games of the season," Leyson said. "The pressure is different, the environments and the competition levels are different. That contributes to the games being way more intense than the summer games." The Aggies fell behind by an early 8-3 margin to the Crimson, battled back to a 10-9 lead, then ultimately gave up the game-winner in the final minutes. The team regrouped to beat No. 13 Brown hours later, and held on to sweep its Sunday slate. "We spoke at length after that game and to respond the way we did in the second game was good," said Leyson. "Our guys always respond in a positive manner when we have episodes like this." UC Davis did enjoy more than a few bright spots throughout the weekend. The 18 goals against George Washington, a team receiving votes in the national rankings, represents the highest output against a Div. I program since the 1995 team put up 20 on Loyola Marymount. Two newcomers â€" namely, freshman Yurii Hanley and junior transfer Morgan Olson-Fabbro â€" made significant contributions in the first games in Aggie caps. Hanley, a lefty attacker whose biggest strength is his passing abilities, totaled six goals for the weekend. Olson-Fabbro led UC Davis in goals (9), with hat tricks against Brown and GW. Although the former West Valley College standout came to the Aggies as a center-defender, he quickly demonstrated his abilities on the attacking side during the team's first weekend. "Morgan made some major contributions on two-meter offense," said Leyson. "He has a lot of gifts. He can play the inside game and he can shoot the ball from the outside. He has a good knack for scoring." Marcus Anderson also made his statement that he is priming for a breakout season. He scored seven goals at the Bruno, matching his entire total from his redshirt freshman season in 2015. Leyson was pleased but not at all surprised by the output of his sophomore from San Anselmo. "He had shown some stuff in the summer and so it was a question of what he would do in games. The one thing about him is that he's not afraid. He steps up. His minutes will continue to go up." Of course, several of the usual suspects opened the season with strong numbers. Sophomore lefty Ido Goldschmidt led the Aggies with 15 overall points (8 goals, 7 assists). Junior goalkeeper Spencer Creed enjoyed an outstanding Sunday, posting 22 saves with just 11 goals allowed in 50 minutes of play. He tallied 14 stops in the tournament finale over SFC, a performance that largely saved the day, says Leyson. After all, the offense shot just 31 percent in the game and committed 18 turnovers against a Terrier team loaded with international talent. Overall, however, Leyson looks for his team to give a more sustained level of energy moving forward. As such, his focus in practice will be more about the UC Davis Aggies than the San Jose State Spartans. "At times, I think we showed a level from which we can build on. It's not the level to which we aspire, but it's a level we can build on," he said. "At other times, we showed that we're the type of team that at every second needs to remind itself to be mentally prepared and to put out the correct level of effort necessary to have success. There's a trap door waiting right in front of us, and we're not good enough to forget the effort it takes to play well as a team." San Jose State opened its season with a 10-9 victory at Santa Clara. All 10 goals came from the hands of freshmen, including five from driver Ivan Stefanovic. Overall, the Spartans field 17 underclassmen in their second year since reviving their program. Junior defender Igor Miljan and sophomore utility Alek Dendall lead the returners after combing for 51 goals last year. Overall, head coach Bruce Watson has mined international ores to build his team: eight players hail from Serbia, Hungary, Croatia, Germany and England on the 2016 roster. "We'll prepare for San Jose State and the things they do, but it's mostly about us and our attitude as a team," Leyson added. SKIP SHOTS: UC Davis will live stream all home games on a new water polo-specific YouTube channel, whose address has yet to be determined... Check back at www.ucdavisaggies.com for links later in the week... The Western Water Polo Association also enters its first year using the FOSH, a water polo stats program developed by a former Michigan grad student and SID named Ryan Sosin... Among its many features, all member institutions will have live stats for home games... Saturday's UC Davis-SJSU game is available at www.thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=1694... Sophomore Ido Goldschmidt did not score a goal against Brown, snapping a streak of 14 straight games with at least one tally... Sophomore Sasa Antunovic and junior Morgan Olson-Fabbro each scored at least once in all four games at Brown... That makes 11 straight for Antunovic, with the first and last games of the streak both against St. Francis Brooklyn... Besides Olson-Fabbro and freshman Yurii Hanley, junior Carlo Burney, redshirt freshman Holden Tamblyn and freshman Eric Martel also made their Aggie debuts at Brown... Another long-awaited debut came from junior goalkeeper R.J. Quigley... A 2014 redshirt who played behind Spencer Creed, Nico Chapman and Jake Becker last year, Quigley grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut â€" approximately 150 miles down Interstate 95 from Brown... He posted five saves with just two goals allowed in a 14-minute stint against GW on Sunday morning.