LA JOLLA, Calif. — The Aggies escaped with another victory in the Los Angeles area as the No. 5 men's water polo team narrowly downed No. 12 UC San Diego, 8-7, Saturday night at the Canyonview Aquatic Center. 
 
"UCSD gave us every bit of what we expected tonight," head coach Daniel Leyson said. "It was a very hard-fought game. This was an extremely difficult road trip and to come away with two wins is great. I'm proud of how hard our guys fought even when we were not playing our best. Now onward to the second season."
 
With their fourth consecutive victory to wrap up the regular season, the Aggies stand with a 16-7 overall record and a perfect 8-0 WWPA record. More importantly, an undefeated record in conference play means UC Davis has locked up the top seed for the WWPA championships, which will run Nov. 18-20 at Loyola Marymount's Burns Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.
 
Redshirt junior attacker Logan Anderson, junior utility Aleix Aznar Beltran, and redshirt senior attacker Levi Murtaugh each recorded a pair of goals, guiding the Aggie offense in the low-scoring battle.
 
Redshirt junior goalkeeper Aaron Wilson made ten saves, including some incredible game-saving stops to keep the Aggies out front late.
 
UC San Diego scored the lone goal of the opening eight minutes, finding the back of the net from Brendon Frezzey.
 
The Aggies answered with a frenzy of four goals – the game's highest scoring period – to eventually give UC Davis 4-2 lead at halftime.
 
The Tritons battled back with the three goals in the third frame and two more in the fourth quarter, but UC Davis held their ground defensively while Murtaugh scored the eventual game-winner to propel the Aggies to an 8-7 victory.
 
UC Davis now has a couple weeks to prepare for the WWPA championships.