PALO ALTO, Calif. — On Day Two of the 2022 MPSF Invite, the No. 6 UC Davis men's water polo team dropped a pair of hard-fought matches against No. 5 Southern California, 11-9, and No. 7 Long Beach State, 11-8 in overtime, Saturday at the Avery Aquatic Center.
 
With the pair of losses, the Aggies are now 4-3 on neutral sites and 7-4 on the year.
 
In the first match of the day, the Aggies and Trojans got off to a high-flying start, exchanging five goals in the first eight minutes. USC kept the pedal to the metal, tacking on one more goal in the second frame and three more in the third quarter to take a 9-6 lead.
 
The fourth quarter saw the Aggies strike three times, cutting their deficit to one before the Trojans added an insurance goal late to secure their victory, 11-9. Redshirt sophomore utility Will Nomura and redshirt junior central defender Aaron Voggenthaler netted a pair of goals in the effort.
 
For the afternoon cap, the Aggies jumped out of the gate to a 3-1 lead on goals by redshirt junior attacker Logan Anderson, junior utility Aleix Aznar Beltran and redshirt senior Levi Murtaugh. The Beach responded with three of their own goals in the second, eventually knotting the score at 4-4 at halftime.
 
UC Davis doubled their goal total in the third quarter while allowing just one on defense to take an 8-5 lead. However, LBSU stormed back in the fourth quarter with three straight tallies to level the playing field at 8-8, forcing overtime.
 
Despite several chances, the Aggies couldn't convert in the extra periods while the Beach served up three goals, ultimately claiming the hard-fought victory, 11-8.
 
UC Davis will play in the seventh-place game tomorrow against UC Santa Barbara at 8:30 am PT.