U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. – The No. 7 UC Davis men's water polo team had their limits tested, but ultimately came up with the 12-11 victory over Air Force on Saturday afternoon in Cadet Natatorium at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
"Already adverse conditions became more so when a fire alarm resulted in our game being delayed one hour," head coach
Daniel Leyson said. "It's always difficult to play here and today was another example of that. I'm proud of our team for fighting through and coming away with a victory."
Despite a delay and the adverse altitude conditions, the Aggies improve to 2-0 in WWPA play and 9-5 overall on the year. Air Force drops to 1-1 in WWPA action and 20-6 overall this season.
Redshirt junior attacker
Logan Anderson and junior utility
Aleix Aznar Beltran tallied hat tricks, carrying the Aggie offense. Redshirt junior central defender
Aaron Voggenthaler and redshirt senior attacker
Levi Murtaugh also added two goals each en route to the victory.
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper
Sam Monette made his first start of the season in goal, making three key saves in the defensive effort.
The Falcons and Aggies started strong offensively with the home team jumping out to a 4-3 lead after eight minutes. Both teams exchanged three goals apiece in the second frame to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead at halftime.
Voggenthaler and Beltran scored the only goals for the Aggies in the third period while allowing just one to the Falcons, making it 8-8 after three frames and setting up an exciting fourth quarter.
The Aggies notched a game-high four goals in the fourth quarter, taking an 12-11 lead with 1:59 left in regulation when Anderson fired home his third goal of the day. The Falcons had a pair of opportunities to respond, but both chances were thwarted by the Aggies' defense and UC Davis secured a hard-fought 12-11victory.
The Aggies shot .462 in the match compared to .458 for the Falcons. The Aggies scored three power-play goals on seven opportunities while the Falcons collected four goals on the man-advantage in six tries.
UC Davis has a tough road matchup on their hands next with No. 2 California on the docket Wednesday at 6 pm PT.
