Box Score DAVIS, Calif. — It was a spectacular Senior Day celebration with a jam-packed crowd of fans and UC Davis alumni as the No. 7 UC Davis men's water polo team took down No. 3 University of the Pacific in sudden death, 12-11, on Sunday afternoon at Schaal Aquatic Center on the UC Davis campus.
 
"It was a really exciting game," head coach Daniel Leyson said. "Pacific are a great team with a great coach. Our guys showed a lot of resilience down two goals late in the game. We were lucky enough to get the win. It feels great for the alumni and the fans to witness that. It was a really special day."
 
With their final non-conference victory of the regular season and highest-ranked win of the 2022 campaign, the Aggies improve to 14-7 overall on the season. The Tigers drop to 18-5 overall on the season.
 
It was a great day filled with high emotion and energy as the Aggies honored seniors Levi Murtaugh and Connor Norton before the game.
 
Fittingly, Norton played hero on the day, securing the game-winning goal in sudden death to propel the Aggies to a 12-11 victory over UOP.
 
"It's like some kind of a script," Leyson said of Norton's game-winner. "He jumped into the sudden death. Logan (Anderson) gave him the ball and buried it. That's a really special moment for him."
 
The Aggies' offense was carried by redshirt junior Aaron Voggenthaler, who netted his second hat trick of the season to go along with four points in his performance.
 
Junior utility Ben Fleming and redshirt sophomore Tyler Mrkaich put up multi-goal performances in the effort offensively as well.
 
In goal, redshirt junior goalkeeper Aaron Wilson made brilliant saves late in the contest to keep the Aggies within grasp of the Tigers, earning 11 saves on the afternoon.
 
The Tigers got an early lead, carrying a 3-2 advantage after the opening eight minutes. However, the Aggies responded with three goals in the second frame to eventually level the playing field at 5-5 at halftime.
 
Back and forth the Aggies and Tigers exchanged timely saves and clutch goals. Two more in the third and three more in the fourth by each team ultimately forced the game's first overtime period of the day with a score of 10-10.
 
In the first overtime frame, the Tigers struck first on a goal by Jeremie Cote. However, UC Davis was able to find a quick answer in the form of Mrkaich's second of the day to knot the game up at 11-11.
 
No team found the back of the net in the second overtime period; hence, a golden goal period was required.
 
After the Tigers thought they had scored, a turnover was ultimately called, sending the Aggies the other way. With redshirt junior Logan Anderson swimming swiftly down the left side, he found Norton, who quickly caught and shot the ball past the Tiger goaltender to put the cherry on top of the Senior Day festivities with a 12-11 victory for UC Davis.
 
The Aggies go on the road for their final two games of the regular season, heading to Los Angeles to take on Loyola Marymount on Thursday.