LOS ANGELES – In a battle that paired together the two remaining unbeaten Western Water Polo Association teams, the No. 5 UC Davis men's water polo team narrowly handed No. 12 Loyola Marymount its first conference loss of the season as the Aggies won by a score of 10-9 on Thursday afternoon at Burns Aquatics Center.
 
"We escaped with a win today against a very tough conference opponent," head coach Daniel Leyson said. "We are looking forward to another very tough game on Saturday."
 
With their third consecutive victory, the Aggies improve to 7-0 in WWPA play and 15-7 overall on the season.
 
It was a well-rounded effort by the Aggies' offense as ten different players earned points on the scoresheet. Connor Norton and Holden Neach netted multi-goal performances on the afternoon. Levi Murtaugh came up with a goal and three assists.
 
Aaron Wilson made eight saves while defending the goal.
 
The Aggies got off to a strong start, scoring three power-play goals by Murtaugh, Aleix Aznar Beltran and Neach. UC Davis would proceed to hold a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to a big save by Wilson.
 
Both teams exchanged three goals each as the Aggies found the back of the net from Will Nomura (6-on-5), Andrew Hitchcock and Colin Nicholls. UC Davis led at halftime by a score of 6-4.
 
In the third frame, the Aggies were able to extend their lead to four goals while Wilson and the defense surrendered just one goal, setting up a 9-5 score for the fourth period.
 
Loyola Marymount attempted to mount a comeback late in the fourth quarter, scoring four times in the frame, but the tenth goal by the Aggies via Norton proved to be the game-winner as UC Davis earned the victory over LMU, 10-9.
 
The Aggies converted five times on ten power-play opportunities while allowing just three goals on 12 6-on-5 attempts for the Lions.
 
UC Davis wraps up the regular season on Saturday at UC San Diego at 5 pm PT.