LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Senior Emily Aikema finished with four goals on the day, while teammates Alyssa Lengtat, Allyson Clague, and Julia Hartmann, also tallied multiple scores, helping the No. 10 UC Davis women's water polo team to a day one split at the 2022 Triton Invitational hosted by UC San Diego on Saturday afternoon at the Triton Pool on campus.

Rebounding after a pair of top-10 defeats at the Stanford Invite last week, the Aggies opened with a commanding 10-4 victory over No. 20 Loyola Marymount to advance in the winners bracket, where they went toe-to-toe with No. 5 Michigan before a pair of late scores allowed the Wolverines to avoid the upset in a 7-5 victory.

Aikema scored a pair of goals in each contest, while Lengtat tallied one in each match, including netting the tying goal early in the fourth against Michigan. Both of Clague's goals helped the Aggies tame the Lions, part of an overall group of nine UC Davis players who found the back of the cage on the day.

UC Davis closes out the tournament on Sunday (Feb. 13) with a pair of matches, looking to finish as high as fifth. The Aggies open against Big West rival and host No. 12 UC San Diego at 9:20 a.m., with the winner advancing to the fifth-place game against either No. 7 UC Irvine or No. 13 Long Beach State at 2:40 p.m.

The loser of the Aggie-Triton tilt will meet either the Anteaters or the Beach in the seventh-place match at 1:20 p.m.

#10 UC DAVIS 10, #20 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT 4
In the opener, eight different UC Davis players finished with at least one goal as the Aggies stayed consistent en route to a tournament opening 10-4 victory over Loyola Marymount.

Goals by Lengtat and Aikema staked their team to the early lead, and junior Noelle Wijnbelt added her only score of the day to help stake UC Davis to a 3-2 lead after one. The lead grew to four following second quarter goals from Aikema, Kelly Hungerford, and Jordan Werkmeister, as the Aggies lead 6-3 at the break and the roll continued into the second half.

Clague and Williams scored back-to-back midway through the third, helping UC Davis build its largest lead of the day to that point, while Clague and Ryan Sund tacked on fourth quarter scores for the final tally, shutting the Lions out over the final 10:23 to secure the victory.

#5 MICHIGAN 7, #10 UC DAVIS 5
In the nightcap, the Aggies were certainly up to the challenge of taking on their second top-five opponent in as many weeks, hanging tight in a back-and-forth clash with fifth-ranked Michigan before falling, 7-5.

Julia Hartmann got her team on the board to tie the match at the 2:28 mark of the first quarter as UC Davis trailed by only a single goal at the end of one. An Aikema score knotted the match up at two apiece to start the second quarter, and the senior added another with 1:48 remaining to answer another Wolverine score, but Michigan took a one-goal lead at the break after converting a 5-meter attempt with 1:27 to play on its next possession.

Each team found the back of the cage once in the third as Hartmann scored her second of the day at 3:53 to tie the match at four but, just as they had done all afternoon, the Wolverines found a way to answer, taking a 5-4 lead into the final period on a goal with 2:56 remaining.

Lengtat came through with another game-tying goal at the 6:40 mark of the fourth, but that would be the last time that the Aggies would be that close as Michigan answered with the eventual game-winner off the gand of Erin Neustrom just 28 seconds later and added some insurance on Kayla Barone's goal with 2:26 left to play as the Wolverines avoided the upset.
 

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