ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Two big wins over ranked competition has the UC Davis men's water polo team coming home from the East Coast with a perfect 4-0 record as the No. 9-ranked Aggies closed out the 2021 Navy open with a 14-13 overtime victory over No. 17 Bucknell and a 19-8 triumph over the No. 19-ranked Midshipmen on Sunday at Lejeune Hall at the United States Naval Academy.
Freshman
Aleix Aznar Beltran contributed 11 total goals in the two victories, and finished with 16 for the weekend, in helping his team to an unbeaten start. He was one of three Aggies with double-digit goals at the end of the weekend, joined by freshman
Hal Goulter, who scored 14 times in the four contests, and 2019 leading scorer
Nir Gross, who scored 10 goals.
In all, 12 different players dented the back of the net in a balanced offensive effort for UC Davis.
Stefan Venne led the squad with six assists,
Logan Anderson added five more helpers, and Goulter led the team with eight steals on the weekend.
In the opener, freshman
Aleix Aznar Beltran scored with 42 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the match at 11-11 and complete his hat trick, then went on to score twice in overtime — including the go-ahead goal with 2:30 remaining in the first overtime — to give the Aggies the lead for good in their 14-13 win over Bucknell.
The five-goal performance gave Aznar Beltran his second hat trick of the weekend in only his third collegiate match, while freshman
Hal Goulter — who had seven goals in a record-setting win over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday — added three more.
A huge third quarter gave Bucknell a 9-8 advantage heading into the final quarter and the Bison made it a two-goal advantage just 58 seconds into the fourth. Aznar Beltran scored his second of the match before Bucknell's Josh Yardley scored 30 seconds later to push the Bison' advantage back to two.
Logan Anderson came up big for UC Davis, scoring his only goal of the day at the 4:31 mark to set up the wild finish. Both teams combined for three 6-on-5 opportunities over the next two minutes, with neither team able to dent the back of the net before Aznar Beltran clutched up with his third goal of the day in the final minute.
After a back-and-forth start to the first overtime, the Spaniard gave the Aggies a 12-11 lead at the 2:30 mark, and made it a two-goal advantage with 1:42 remaining in the second. A flurry of action saw the Bison threaten, with a pair of 5-meter goals, but Goulter's score with :54 seconds remaining in the middle of those two attempts proving to be the difference.
Aznar Beltran's scoring exploits didn't stop there as the Spaniard scored six times, while
Logan Anderson added a hat trick, as UC Davis led wire-to-wire in a 19-8 triumph over Navy.
Although the score was tied twice in the first three minutes of play, the Aggies never trailed as Aznar Beltran's second goal of the day have UC Davis a 3-2 lead it would never relinquish. The Aggies led 5-3 after one, held a four-goal advantage at 9-5 at the break, and pulled away in the second half, out-scoring the MIdshipmen by a 10-3 count after halftime.
Nine different players scored against Navy, including a pair from goalkeeper
Aaron Wilson, who scored from the other end of the pool twice: the first at the very end of the first quarter and, again, at 4:08 mark of the second quarter for a 7-4 Aggie lead. He also finished with eight saves in the match and 22 for the tournament.
Upon their return from Annapolis, the Aggies remain on the road with matches against San Jose State and an exhibition with Cuesta College on Sept. 11 in San Jose, Calif, before opening the home portion of their schedule with the Aggie Roundup on Sept. 17-19 at the Schaal Aquatics Center.
NCAA MEN'S WATER POLO
#9 UC DAVIS 14, #17 BUCKNELL 13
Lejeune Hall • Annapolis, Md.
UCD — 5-1-2-3-3—14
BUCK – 2-2-5-2-2–13
BUCKNELL GOALS: Jack Lewis 1, Josh Yardley 4, Walker Butler 1, Doruk Ozar 2, Hasan Mogultay 3, Andu Vlasceanu 2
UC DAVIS GOALS: Logan Anderson 1,
Aleix Aznar Beltran 5,
Nir Gross 1,
Michael Plastino 2,
Stefan Venne 1,
Connor Norton 1,
Hal Goulter 3
UC DAVIS SAVES: Duncan Creed (32:00) 4.
#9 UC DAVIS 19, #19 NAVY 8
Lejeune Hall • Annapolis, Md.
UCD — 5-4-5-5—19
NAVY – 3-2-2-1–8
NAVY GOALS: Jake Altmayer 1, Isaac Salinas 1, Ivan Pang 1, Michael Heller 2, Will Clark 1, Travis Berzins 1, Hayden Kahn 1
UC DAVIS GOALS: Logan Anderson 3,
Aleix Aznar Beltran 6,
Nir Gross 1,
Levi Murtaugh 1,
Aaron Wilson 2,
Stefan Venne 2,
Connor Norton 1,
Holden Neach 1,
Hal Goulter 2
UC DAVIS SAVES: Aaron Wilson (32:00) 8
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Centrally located between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe, over 700 student-athletes across 25 teams enjoy an unrivaled undergraduate experience at the fifth-ranked public school in the country.
Ranked annually in the nation's top 10 in diversity and students' social mobility, UC Davis and its innovative Aggie EVO System helps student-athletes develop passions, connect with a comprehensive network of alums and industry leaders, gain real-world experience and thrive as a young professional following a successful launch to full-time employment or graduate school.
