STANFORD, Calif. -- Senior Riley Venne netted a career-high five goals, including three in the final four minutes of the contest, to lead No. 7 UC Davis to a 12-11 victory against No. 11 UC San Diego in the ninth-place game of the Mountain Pacific Invitational men's water polo tournament at Avery Aquatic Center Sunday.

Both teams move to 12-5 for their respective seasons. The Aggies were the ninth seed in the tournament, while the Tritons were seeded seventh. The two foes are also the two highest-ranking members of the Western Water Polo Association.

Senior Ido Goldschmidt and junior Holden Tamblyn each added two goals for UC Davis, with Colter Knight, Marcus Anderson and Jack Stafford chipping in one apiece. UCSD utility and last year's WWPA Freshman of the Year Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt led his team with four goals.

The Tritons held a 3-1 lead early in the contest and managed to stay even or ahead of the Aggies through the 5-5 halftime deadlock. Venne converted a power play at 5:40 in the third to give UC Davis its first lead at 6-5, then Tamblyn followed with a 6-on-5 goal at the three-minute mark to extend that margin to 7-5. However, UCSD responded with three unanswered goals, including back-to-back from Noah Carniglia to end the third frame.

The two teams battled to the game's fifth and sixth ties at 9-9 and 10-10 midway through the fourth, with Venne providing the equalizer on 6-on-5 opportunities each time. Anderson hit a five-meter penalty shot with 1:57 to go and Venne poured in his fifth tally with just 18 ticks remaining to give UC Davis a 12-10 edge. UCSD junior Cooper Milton tacked on a goal at the buzzer to bring the scoreboard to its final 12-11.

The Mountain Pacific Invitational, formerly known as the NorCal Invitational, annually brings in the top competition in the country for a 16-team draw. Ten of the top 11 teams competed in the field at Stanford from Friday through Sunday.

The Aggies return to action with a home WWPA matchup against Air Force on Friday. Game time is noon.

NOTES & HIGHLIGHTS
• Sunday's game is Venne's eighth career hat trick and his first since scoring three against California Baptist at last year's Aggie Roundup... All seven of his previous hat tricks were exactly three goals each... Venne is the first Aggie to enjoy a five-goal game since Marcus Anderson against Harvard in this year's season opener.

• UC Davis and UC San Diego combined for 34 total exclusions and five-meter fouls... The Aggies converted 8 of 17 power plays and their lone five-meter penalty shot... The Tritons were good on both five-meter chances (with Turnbow-Lindenstadt scoring both) but completed just 3 of 14 exclusion opportunities.

• The two teams have met in each of the last three WWPA title games, with UC Davis prevailing in 2016 (12-8) and 2017 (9-6)... However, UC San Diego is the last conference team to beat UC Davis, doing so in the 2015 WWPA championship.

2018 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL, DAY 3
Avery Aquatic Center (Stanford, Calif.)
UC Davis games only.

GOALS - UC DAVIS: Riley Venne 5, Ido Goldschmidt 2, Holden Tamblyn 2, Colter Knight 1, Marcus Anderson 1, Jack Stafford 1. UCSD: Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt 4, Noah Carniglia 3, Alessandro Valania 1, Konstantin Karlov 1, Kacper Langiewicz 1, Cooper Milton 1. 

GOALIE SAVES - UC DAVIS: Jonah Addington 5 (16:00), R.J. Quigley 2 (16:00). UCSD: Jack Turner 8 (32:00).

ABOUT UC DAVIS: Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal, and among the top 10 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.

AGGIE EVO: Established in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.